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Talking Heads back with a twist

Alan Bennett's award-winning series of solo pieces, Talking Heads, introduces us to a varied bunch of appealing characters. Last year, Driftwood Players presented two of these pieces, Bed Among the Lentils and A Cream Cracker Under the Settee.

Alan Bennett's award-winning series of solo pieces, Talking Heads, introduces us to a varied bunch of appealing characters.

Last year, Driftwood Players presented two of these pieces, Bed Among the Lentils and A Cream Cracker Under the Settee. This year, the title is the same but the characters are new.

First, there's Graham Whittaker, a middle-aged man, still living with his widowed mother. His world is severely shaken when mother takes up again with an old flame. The title of this piece is A Chip in the Sugar.

In A Lady of Letters, Irene Ruddock considers herself to be the voice of the community as she spends her days writing letters to all and sundry, including the Queen. Others would consider her an interfering old busybody.

Former Sunshine Coast high school teacher Geoffrey Madoc-Jones returns to Gibsons to play Whittaker, and Colleen Elson plays Ruddock.

Madoc-Jones last appeared in the 1983 Driftwood Players production of Blithe Spirit before moving to a new position in the Simon Fraser University Faculty of Education.

The BBC produced Talking Heads for TV in 1988, several years before the pieces were performed on the West End Stage in London. They were performed again in Los Angeles and then in New York in 2003. Theatre critics universally hail Bennett's combination of razor-sharp wit and deeply felt humanity. He is considered to be one of the most gifted and versatile writers in the English language.

This Driftwood Players' production of Talking Heads is a fundraiser for the Heritage Playhouse and will be performed at the playhouse in Gibsons on Friday, Oct. 7, and Saturday, Oct. 8. The evening performances begin at 8 p.m. There is also a Saturday matinee at 2 p.m. Doors open a half hour before the performances begin. All tickets are $10 and are available at the door.

Bring your Thanksgiving weekend guests for a little touch of Bennett's humour and humanity.