Lunedi Lunacy

Again best known for her - to me irritating - Hyacinth Bucket as I mentioned last week the marvelous Patricia Routledge is capable of so much more.  Her three Talking Heads monologues are miracles of subtle inflections and amongst the great moments recorded for television.  The combination of Alan Bennett's superb writing and Routledge's performances make these stories of ordinary people extra-ordinary theatre.

On the same level but in an entirely different "fach" is her comic performances - including this riotous "Kitty" series she did for Victoria Wood in the mid 1980s.  Closer to her Hyacinth though not far from her Miss Schofield in Bennett's A Woman of No Importance Routledge shows shows her versatility in looking at the same type of woman from a different angle.  Though many of the references are British-specific and often dated its the delivery that makes the wonderful non-sequiturs sparkle and bring a smile and more often outright laughter to my lips.

Her Miss Schofield in Bennett's monologue is available here.   Though it is lengthy it is well worth the watching for the sheer brilliance of the writing and the acting.

February 24 - 1387: King Charles III of Naples and Hungary is assassinated at Buda.