[Review] People

Nicholas Hyntner’s production for the National Theatre of Alan Bennett’s ‘People’ at the Lyttelton is a sheer joy. Frances de la Tour heads a triumvirate of three excellent actresses whilst some of our best known actors are happy to take quite minor roles. It is clear that Alan Bennett enjoyed writing this satire about the National Trust and that the cast enjoyed playing it. We in the audience were, I’d guess, mostly members of both the National Trust (it was a half price midweek matinee for over 60s) and were well in with the jokes. Hilarious, knowingly clichéd farce (the short-sighted bishop turning up during the filming of a porn movie) combined with cutting satire on various aspects of modern society to produce a play which is very much of its time but no less enjoyable for it. Thoroughly recommended.

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