ACT Reviews 2022-2023 Season

up there alongside the very impressive cast performances. Another little touch that I really liked was that the stagehands, when moving the van, were wearing hi-vis waistcoats emblazoned with "Camden Council" – such attention to detail! Lighting design (by Paddy Keene, John Summers, and John Bradshaw) was always just right for the scene, be it inside or outside, day or night. At one point, on the night I watched, there was an unexpected blackout, which was quickly rectified and the cast carried on very professionally. Sound by Tom Whittaker and Barbara Bailey was also generally very good, although I sometimes struggled to hear Alan Hargreaves (Alan Bennet 2) and Tilly Clapham (as the Interviewer) over the music or when there were other sound effects. Coming to the cast, we first meet Alan Hargreaves as Alan Bennett 2 who sets the scene in his role as the narrator, and introduces us to his younger self, played by James Bateman, and the Lady herself, Miss Shepherd, played by Eleanor Jolley. All three had a wonderful cohesive stage presence, whenever they were on stage together they came across as a well-oiled team, which is noteworthy when you have a cast of three such "big" characters and I'm sure was in no small part due to the direction of Richard Sanderson. I was very surprised to find out in the interval when I read Richard's introduction in the programme that Eleanor had stepped into the role with only 6 weeks of rehearsal time – this was not at all noticeable in her performance. Eleanor was every inch "the Lady", from her little pauses and quizzical expressions to her always easily flowing addition of the word "Possibly" to numerous sentences - Eleanor captured her perfectly. Similarly, both James and Alan did a great job of imitating Alan Bennet's voice and matching the delivery and nuances of each other's

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