Alan Bennett’s The Lady In The Van On Film – First Look

Alex Jennings and Maggie Smith in The Lady In The Van coming to cinemas in November 2015

We’re pleased to be bringing you this first look at the film adaptation of The Lady In The Van. Lady in the Van is adapted from the Alan Bennett play of the same name and is directed by Nicholas Hytner, who directed the original production at the Queen’s Theatre. Lady in the Van stars Maggie Smith, Alex Jennings, Frances de la Tour, Jim Broadbent and Gwen Taylor and arrives in cinemas in November 2015. The film tells the true story of the relationship between Alan Bennett and the singular Miss Shepherd, a woman of uncertain origins who ‘temporarily’ parked her van in Bennett’s London driveway and proceeded to live there for 15 years. We’re looking forward to this one.

TALES FROM THE DRESSING ROOM : Penelope Keith

Penelope Keith

In the first of our Tales From The Dressing Room series, Penelope Keith chats candidly to JBR about the changes in the industry since her training. “Come in, come in. Welcome to the most elegant dressing room in the West End.” How could it not be? This is, after all, the famed Dressing Room No. 10 at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket. Current resident, the ever fragrant Penelope Keith, is precisely as one imagines her to be; part hectoring schoolmarm, part favourite aunt. “I like the idea of older actors passing on what they know, but don’t make me sound too much like an old fart,” she pleads, as she crosses the room and takes her seat. The room is not the most extravagantly appointed one in the West End. A large, French style dressing table occupies the right hand side where Keith’s wig sits, proudly, on a stand. Modest amounts … Read more