There is a longstanding notion that a playwright should exhibit some degree of eccentricity. Alan Bennett (played here by Alex Jennings) does so by allowing a cantankerous homeless woman to live in a van parked in the driveway of his London home for 15 years. (In other regards, he’s the author of The Madness of George III and The History Boys.) That woman, Miss Shepherd (played by Maggie Smith, turned up to 11), outstripped her begrudging host in eccentricity—she had casual conversations with the Virgin Mary, boasted a tongue rude to the point of hilarity, and had an inexplicable insistence on painting everything mimosa-yellow—if not resourcefulness.
Marjorie Skinner is the Portland Mercury's Managing Editor, author of the weekly Sold Out column chronicling the area's independent fashion and retail industry, and a frequent contributor to the film and... More by Marjorie Skinner