Talking Heads

Alan Bennett’s Talking Heads monologues – written in the 1980s for BBC TV – put faces and names to Thoreau’s ‘lives of quiet desperation’. They are superbly written character pieces and, incredibley, are showing no signs of age. The two short and sharp pieces chosen by Brisbane’s Villanova Players give Jane Binstead and Jean Spencer a chance to polish and show off their comic skills.

In A Cream Cracker under the Settee, Jean Spencer plays 70-something clean-freak, Doris who is desperate to avoid being moved to the local care home – despite doing daft things like climb up to reach the top of a shelf, just to prove that her cleaner, Zulema, is not doing a good enough job. Directed by Trevor Bond, the performance evokes a warmer character – rather than focusing on the nastier side of Doris’s obsessive compulsive personality (which may have contributed to her husband’s death). And, in typical Bennett style, we feel the frustration that Doris’s determination not to draw attention to herself may eventually be the cause of her own demise.

The second piece, directed by Sharon White is Her Big Chance. Jane Binstead plays delightfully daffy Lesley, an aspiring actress, who, after playing extras in soapy ‘Crossroads’, and appearing as a vintage shawl-wearing peasant in Polanski’s ‘Tess of the d’Urbervilles’ is ready to use her skills in a bigger part. In a convoluted story about chance meetings, green room catering and location filming, it becomes clear that Lesley is finally on the brink of stardom – in a new ‘action’ film for a new German director who, unfortunately, ‘isn’t a patch on Roman’.

Both pieces are thoroughly entertaining – and the performers bring Bennett’s words to life and get plenty of laughs from the material, while rising to the challenge of keeping pace with Bennett’s witty wordplay. With so many pieces to choose from, I think it would have been nice to see a third piece – perhaps with some script trimming to streamline the pieces into a satisfying trio.

Brisbane’s Villanova Players provide a welcoming experience. Since this group started more than 60 years ago, things have certainly moved on in the community theatre world. You can now become a subscriber and book shows online. Opening night of Talking Heads also marked the launch of their 2020 season. With at least four major productions each year, the group have an eye on today’s audiences, and a focus on Australian works. The upcoming season includes plays by Hannie Rayson and Joanna Murray-Smith alongside international crowd-pleasers, Oscar Wilde, Ronald Harwood and James Goldman. Find out more on the Villanova Players website.

Beth Keehn