The Lady in the Van

Synopsis

Miss Shepherd is a curious and enigmatic lady. Alan knows very little about her. She used to drive ambulances in the war, might have been a nun, sells pencils and pamphlets and has an unexplained aversion to piano music. But somehow she lives in the playwright’s garden and has done for years. The Lady in the Van is based on renowned British playwright Alan Bennett’s own recollections of the indomitable Miss Shepherd and is, as with any Bennett play, a beautifully observed, sharply intelligent and wonderfully witty drama.

Our Review:

23 May 2012

Telling (roughly) the true story of the female tramp who literally camped out on Alan Bennett’s front doorstep in a succession of rusty vehicles for 20 years, The Lady in the Van does exactly what it says on the tin.

It’s a study of the fine line between eccentricity and madness, of the tolerance – or otherwise – of a society that doesn’t know how to deal with “different” people, and, in an extended metaphor, of Bennett’s own relationship with his mother.

There’s plenty of introspection and exploration, with not one but two Bennett characters on stage, one narrating the tale, the other interacting with the uninvited Miss Shepherd and all the other characters she brings into his life.

And while the result is often entertaining and frequently fascinating, the question of whether it’s really a play at all remains largely unanswered, in spite of Bennett’s attempt at a second-act coup de theatre and so...

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Latest User Review

Catherine - 7 June 2012:

Didn't know quite what to expect. But was a fantastic performance with such a small cast. Nichola Mcauliffe played a stroppy but vulnerable batty old woman brilliantly....

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