ACT Reviews 2022-2023 Season

THE LADY IN THE VAN By Alan Bennett. Directed by Richard Sanderson Burnley Garrick Theatre Group I was very much looking forward to returning to Burnley Youth Theatre to watch this classic of a play, and I was not disappointed. On walking into the auditorium, I was immediately very impressed by the set. For the previous productions I have seen at the Youth Theatre the staging had been cleverly created using pallets and blocks (which worked excellently for those productions), but for Lady we witnessed the true extent of the skill and talent in Burnley Garrick Theatre Group's set design and building team. The team of Harvey Levene (set design, staging, stage manager and set and van build – what an achievement!), Vic Riley (set and van build), Chris Thornber (workshop manager), Jean Green (props) and Ken Horsfield (assistant stage manager) made the absolute best use of the space by creating the front of Alan Bennett's house, the interior of his dining room and, of course, the van, all to exceptional quality. I particularly like the imposing front door surround, the wallpaper on the internal dining room wall and, of course, the van itself ! Accessible with sliding doors on both sides of the driver's cabin and the two doors at the rear, complete with opening windows along the side covered with newspaper appropriate to the period, every detail had been considered and created to perfection. Martin Chadwick, in his introduction, referred to the van as "the star of the show", and it was certainly

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