THE LADY IN THE VAN
By Alan Bennett
Touring this Spring & Summer (see dates below)
Hull Truck in association with Richard Jordan Productions Ltd
Alan Bennett has a very unusual neighbour. Parked at the bottom of his garden is a van. With a lady in it.
The lady in the van is Miss Shepherd. 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. Alan Bennett is one of the nation's best-loved playwrights, with plays including The History Boys, Talking Heads and The Madness of George III. The Lady in the Van stars Nichola McAuliffe, one of British theatre's most loved actresses. As well as playing Sheila Sabatini in seven series of ITV's Surgical Spirit, Nichola won an Olivier Award for Outstanding Performance By An Actress In A Musical for her role in Kiss Me Kate (RSC). Directed by Sarah Esdaile, whose recent credits include The Deep Blue Sea starring Maxine Peake for West Yorkshire Playhouse.
'a masterclass in what regional theatre can achieve at its best'. Dominic Cavendish, The Telegraph, on Hull Truck's production of The Lady in the Van.
'a star turn - or more specifically, a star three-point-turn - for Nichola McAuliffe'. Guardian, 27.4.11.
'Hull Truck's production has its spectacular set pieces...but its power lies in the way that Bennett's inner thoughts are so convincingly portrayed'. The Stage, 13.4.11.
| Wed 11 – Sat 14 April | Theatre Royal, Brighton | 0844 871 7650 |
| Tue 17 – Sat 21 April | Regent Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent | 0844 871 7649 |
| Tue 24 – Sat 28 April | Aylesbury Waterside Theatre | 0844 871 7627 |
| Tue 1 – Sat 5 May | Cambridge Arts Theatre | 01223 503 333 |
| Tue 15 – Sat 19 May | Grand Theatre, Blackpool | 01253 290190 |
| Tue 22 – Sat 26 May | Curve, Leicester | 0116 242 3595 |
| Tue 29 May – Sat 2 June | Festival Theatre, Malvern | 01684 892277 |
| Wed 6 – Sat 9 June | Lyceum Theatre, Sheffield | 0114 249 6000 |
| Tue 12 – Sat 16 June | New Theatre, Cardiff | 029 2087 8889 |
| Tue 19 – Sat 23 June | Richmond Theatre | 0844 871 7651 |
| Mon 25 – Sat 30 June | Theatre Royal, Bath | 01225 448844 |
