“There is no such thing as a good script, onlya good film, and I'm conscious that my scripts often read better than they play.” PlayFilmConsciousScriptsGood Films Author:Alan Bennett
“I'm not good at precise, coherent argument. But plays are suited to incoherent argument, put into the mouths of fallible people.” PeoplePlayMouthsArgumentPrecise Author:Alan Bennett
“To play Trivial Pursuit with a life like mine could be said to be a form of homeopathy.” SaidPlayFormMinesPursuitHomeopathy Book:Writing Home Source: Writing Home
“I had no idea of who could play it, no notion really. Then Richard came to see us but I don't think it was decided at that meeting. The trouble is, as soon as you've chosen somebody it obscures anybody else you might have thought of. It's like going to a place that you've never been to before - you've got a picture of it and then you go there and that picture is totally wiped out by the reality.” ThinkingIdeasPlayRealityMightTroubleDecidedMeetingsNotionChosenNo Idea Author:Alan Bennett
“I write plays about things that I can't resolve in my mind. I try to root things out.” WritingTryingMindI CanPlayRootsResolve Author:Alan Bennett
“There's very little in the substance of [THE LADY IN THE VAN] which is not fact though some adjustments have had to be made. Over the years Miss Shepherd was visited by a succession of social workers so the character in the play is a composite figure. . . . A composite too are the neighbours, Pauline and Rufus, though I have made Rufus a publisher in remembrance of my neighbour, the late Colin Haycraft, the proprietor of Duckworth's.” YearsLittlesMadePlayCharacterFactsSocialMissingFiguresLateWorkersCraftsSubstanceRemembrancePublishersVansNeighbourAdjustmentSuccessionShepherdsSocial WorkerComposites Author:Alan Bennett
“But most men regard their life as a poem that women threaten. They may not have two spondees to rub together but they still want to pen their saga untrammelled by life-threatening activities like trailing round Sainsbury's, emptying the dishwasher or going to the nativity play.” MenWantMayStillsTwoPlayTogetherActivityMen And WomenRegardRoundsPensThreateningSagaDishwashersNativity Book:Writing Home Source: Writing Home
