Three into one just about goes

Brave is the decision by the Old Town Theatre Company to stage three of Alan Bennett's sparkling television monologues. And daunting the prospect for the three actors faced with 20 or so pages of unbroken script.

It calls for cool nerve, and Jane Dale has it aplenty as the vicar's problem wife in Bed Among the Lentils, a delightful study of hypocrisy and religious exploitation. The actress has a splendid intonation and feel for its subtle nuances.

Mandi Fuller has her moments too as the bit-part actress recalling Her Big Chance - a tawdry video production whose tackiness she is blinded to by innocent optimism. She should learn though not to apologise to her audience whenever she drops a line.

The final piece, A Chip in the Sugar, is in many ways the darkest and most deeply textured of the three. Steve Wheeler has a bit of a struggle hanging on to the home-loving son whose elderly mother suddenly finds adventure with the reappearance of an old flame.

These texts are not easy to improvise, nor to navigate without all the markers of regular dialogue. But they are well worth the effort and deserve a bigger audience tonight and tomorrow.

Roger Dean
The Evening Advertiser