Ravensbury Players triumph with Alan Bennett's Lady in the Van

The Lady in the Van by Ravensbury Players at Ramsbury Memorial Hall from Wednesday, December 1, to Saturday, December 4. Review by PAUL SHAVE

Ravensbury Players had planned this production for March 2020, but Covid intervened. Back on stage at last, this play with a cast of 12 was a good showcase for Ravensbury’s talents.

Alan Bennett originally wrote the autobiographical book in 1989 and later turned it into a play, followed by a film. It’s the extraordinary story of how the eponymous Miss Shepherd came into his life when she started parking her van in his street, moving it gradually closer to his house until it remained parked in his drive for 15 years.

The play is structured with two people playing Alan Bennett (Mark Davies) as he interacts with other people, and his alter ego Alan Bennett 2 (John Barker), who acts as a narrator and an advisor to the other character. Sounds complicated, but it works and both actors nailed Bennett’s way of speaking.

Miss Shepherd (Chris Perkins) is altogether more complex with a strange back story. Intelligent and talented, but also cantankerous, rude, bossy and incontinent, she nevertheless develops a relationship with Bennett which establishes a sort of dependency on him. This was a powerful performance and the connection between the two of them developed subtly and was very well handled.

The neighbouring couple Rufus and Pauline (David Mayer and Helen Lloyd) added some humour with his bluster and her facial expressions.

Gaye Adolph, as Alan’s Mam, gave a well-nuanced portrayal, taking her through depression, delusion and dementia. Bev Mann hit the spot with her sympathetic and amusing interpretation of the social worker.

Bennett’s dry humour wasn’t laugh-out-loud funny but it was a clever script including references to Pinter, Beckett, EM Forster and Joe Orton, and even a conversation in French.

On a small stage, it’s difficult to come up with a set that includes a living room, a garden and a van. The set was fairly simple, but managed to encompass them all. Costumes, by Fiona Setter, were good and suitable for the period, including brown jacket, corduroy trousers and shoes and muted red waistcoats for the two Alans.

Apart from some slight pauses while Alan waited for someone to appear from offstage the pace was good and director John Barker gave us an entertaining piece supported by strong acting from the whole cast.