Talking Heads
By Alan Bennett · The Tower Theatre, Folkestone
| Talking Heads | |
.jpg) Talking Heads promotional image | |
| Production Details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 14–15 February 2025 |
| Venue | The Tower Theatre |
| Director | Robert Emptage |
| Writer | Alan Bennett |
| Producer | Julie Morrow |
| Amateur production by arrangement with Concord Theatricals Ltd. on behalf of Samuel French Ltd. | |
The Folkestone-Hythe Operatic and Dramatic Society presented Talking Heads by Alan Bennett on 14th–15th February 2025 at The Tower Theatre, Folkestone. An amateur production by arrangement with Concord Theatricals Ltd. on behalf of Samuel French Ltd.
Foreword
In 1988…
Margaret Thatcher became the longest-serving UK Prime Minister, having been in power for eight years and 244 days. Comic Relief was launched. The £1 note ceased to be legal tender. The average house would set you back £60,000 (an increase of 17% on 1987). Section 28 was brought into law preventing local authorities from "promoting homosexuality". 80,000 people attended a concert at Wembley in honour of Nelson Mandela's birthday. Edwina Currie provoked outrage by stating that most of Britain's egg production is infected with salmonella. And the BBC aired a brand new TV series of dramatic monologues by British playwright Alan Bennett.
Talking Heads is a series of twelve multi-award-winning monologues which were performed by an all-star cast to critical acclaim. Here we proudly present three.
Susan is an alcoholic vicar's wife, who discovers something about herself above a corner shop in Leeds in Bed Among the Lentils. Graham, who is middle-aged and still living with his mother, finds the stability of his world rocked when she meets a fancy man in A Chip in the Sugar. Finally in A Lady of Letters, a woman who is not afraid to speak her mind puts pen to paper to address the social issues that she sees all around her.
Although 36 years have passed since Talking Heads were first performed, the characters and situations are just as relevant and recognisable today. Originally performed for the BBC by Patricia Routledge, Maggie Smith and Alan Bennett himself, we hope you enjoy our interpretation of the characters and the stories that they tell.
- Robert Emptage, Director
Cast
Production Team
Direction & Production
- Director – Robert Emptage
ProducerDesign & Technical
- Set Design – Robert Emptage
Set BuildMedia & Marketing
- Photography & Design – Julie Morrow
Graphic Design/Media