"The Lady in the Van The Lady in the Van is a 2015 British comedy-drama film directed by Nicholas Hytner, and starring Maggie Smith and Alex Jennings, based on the novel of the same name created by Alan Bennett. It was written by Alan Bennett, and it tells the (mostly) true story of his interactions with Mary Shepherd, an elderly woman who lived in a dilapidated van on his driveway in London for 15 years. He had previously published the story as a 1989 essay, 1990 book, 1999 stage play, and 2009 radio play on BBC Radio 4. Smith had"
"in the Van"" based on his experiences with an eccentric woman called Miss Shepherd, who lived on Bennett's driveway in a series of dilapidated vans for more than fifteen years. It was first published in 1989 as an essay in the London Review of Books. In 1990 he published it in book form. In 1999 he adapted it into a stage play, which starred Maggie Smith and was directed by Nicholas Hytner. The stage play includes two characters named Alan Bennett. On 21 February 2009 it was broadcast as a radio play on BBC Radio 4, with Maggie Smith reprising"
"a portrayal opposite Helen Mirren as Charles, Prince of Wales in the Stephen Frears directed film, ""The Queen."" He also appeared in ""War Requiem"", the RSC's film version of ""A Midsummer Night's Dream"", Lord Mark in the Oscar-nominated movie ""The Wings of the Dove"", ""Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat"", and ""The Four Feathers"". Jennings portrays playwright Alan Bennett in the 2015 film ""The Lady in the Van"" opposite Academy Award winner Maggie Smith in the title role. The film is directed by Nicolas Hytner, who is a long-time collaborator from the theatre. Jennings' work in television includes appearances in"
"chauffeurs to report on their comings and goings. He is shown being overwhelmed by the chaos of the Suez Crisis and eventually forced out of office by his Conservative Party colleagues, at the urging of the American government. He also appeared in Peter Morgan's stage play ""The Audience"" (2013); in the premiere, he was played by Michael Elwyn). In the 2015 West End revival version, featuring Kristin Scott Thomas as the Queen, Eden is portrayed by Scottish actor David Robb. His scene in the play is a prediction of Eden's audience with the Queen the day before the invasion of"
"It was released in UK theatres on 13 November 2015, while there was a limited theatrical release on 15 January 2016 in the US. The first trailer was released on 26 February 2015, followed by a teaser poster on 5 March. A new and extended trailer was released on 4 September. , ""The Lady in the Van"" has grossed $41.3 million worldwide; $31.3 million in the United Kingdom and $10.0 million in North America. ""The Lady in the Van"" received positive reviews, with particular praise being aimed at Smith's acting. Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a rating of 91%, based"
"in The Lady in the Van at the Theatre Royal Bath, Caleb in the UK premier of The Whipping Man under the direction of Tom Attenborough at the Theatre Royal Plymouth and as Mr Darcy in the Crucible Theatre Sheffield production of Pride and Prejudice, Millais in Lizzie Siddal at the Arcola and Yolland in the highly successful production of Translations by Brian Friel with the English Touring Theatre. James appears in Lars von Trier controversial film Nymphomaniac and as Mr Vaughan in Belle. Northcote appears the BBC Drama of ""SS-GB (miniseries)"" based on the book""SS-GB"" by Len Deighton and"
"The Dresser (2015 film) The Dresser is a 2015 British drama film directed by Richard Eyre and based on the 1980 play by Ronald Harwood. The film stars Ian McKellen, Anthony Hopkins, Emily Watson, Vanessa Kirby, Sarah Lancashire and Edward Fox. The film premiered on BBC Two on 31 October 2015. The film, set entirely within the backstage area (and briefly, the main stage) of a London playhouse during the London Blitz, opens on theatrical dresser Norman and Sir's (apparent) wife, ""Her Ladyship"", meeting in Sir's dressing room after a difficult visit with Sir in hospital. At Her Ladyship's frantic"
"a reshuffling of the fledgeling competition’s rules that year disqualified nearly a year’s worth of high-quality fiction from consideration."" In 2015, it was adapted for the stage for the first time by Laurie Sansom for a National Theatre of Scotland production which premiered at the Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh. Lise is a spinster, working in an accountancy firm somewhere in Northern Europe, probably Denmark (the location is not explicitly specified). Spark described ""The Driver's Seat"" as a 'whydunnit' (and she uses the term in the novel). This is because in the novel's third chapter it is revealed that Lise will"
"the driveway of his Camden home. She stayed there for 15 years. As the story develops Bennett learns that Miss Shepherd is really Margaret Fairchild, a former gifted pupil of the pianist Alfred Cortot. She had played Chopin in a promenade concert, tried to become a nun, was committed to an institution by her brother, escaped, had an accident when her van was hit by a motorcyclist for which she believed herself to blame, and thereafter lived in fear of arrest. During her 15-year stay in his drive, Bennett balances his writing career with providing for Shepherd and watching over"
"was awarded an OBE in the 2018 Birthday Honours. Abi Morgan Abi Morgan, OBE (born 1968) is a Welsh playwright and screenwriter known for her works for television, such as ""Sex Traffic"" and ""The Hour"", and the films ""Brick Lane"", ""The Iron Lady"", ""Shame"" and ""Suffragette"". Morgan was born in Cardiff, Wales. She is the daughter of actress Pat England and theatre director Gareth Morgan, who was director of the Gulbenkian Theatre in Newcastle upon Tyne (now the Northern Stage). Her parents divorced when she was a teenager and her childhood was spent moving around the country while her mother"
"Hotel"" (2012), and ""The Lady in the Van"" (2015). She won an Emmy Award in 2003 for ""My House in Umbria"", to become one of the few actresses to have achieved the Triple Crown of Acting, and starred as Lady Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham, on ""Downton Abbey"" (2010–2015), for which she won three Emmys, her first non-ensemble Screen Actors Guild Award, and her third Golden Globe. Her honorary awards include the BAFTA Special Award in 1993, the BAFTA Fellowship in 1996, and the Special Olivier Award in 2011. She received the Stratford Shakespeare Festival's Legacy Award in 2012,"
"written by Alan Bennett, and starring Maggie Smith and Alex Jennings. It tells the true story of Mary Shepherd, an elderly woman who lived in a dilapidated van on Bennett's driveway in London for 15 years. Mrs Shepherd was a musician. In one of the scenes when the character Alan Bennett is sifting through Mary Shepherd paperwork he finds a concert poster claiming Mrs Shepard played with the British Symphony Orchestra. It's unknowns if there is any truth in this claim. The British Symphony Orchestra reformed in 2016. Philip Mackenzie is the principle conductor. The modern orchestra is made of"
"as Lord Peter and Maria Aitken as Harriet Vane. It was adapted for television in 1987, as part of a series starring Edward Petherbridge as Lord Peter and Harriet Walter as Harriet Vane. Have His Carcase Have His Carcase is a 1932 locked-room mystery by Dorothy L. Sayers, her seventh novel featuring Lord Peter Wimsey and the second in which Harriet Vane appears. During a hiking holiday at the resort of Wilvercombe on the South West coast of England, the detective novelist Harriet Vane discovers the body of a man lying on an isolated rock on the shore; his throat"
"Phoenix too Frequent (1957); Film roles incl.: The Long Wet (2001), A Spy in the Family (1985), (Emmett Stone) 1984, and Buddies (1982); Reader for Christchurch Camerata Orchestra 2012, Dir: Wilde Woman (play) 2010, Stopover (play) Katandra Players 2009 and The Fortunates (play) 2008, poetry recitals for Gosford Regional Gallery 2008 and 2003,Dir. Lettice and Lovage (play) The Actor's Forum 2007, Collected Stories (play) The Actor's Forum 2006, 2 monologues for Gosford Regional Gallery and Internat. Women's Day 2005, poetry recitals for SH Ervin Gallery `La Serenissima: The Fascination of Venice' 2003,Dir. Archibald Prize: The Play (jointly) 2003, Winners (play)"
"Court Theatre and Albery Theatre); ""The Graduate"", directed by Terry Johnson (Gielgud Theatre); ""Dr Dolittle"" (Hammersmith Apollo) and ""Antony and Cleopatra"" (Royal Shakespeare Company), both directed by Steven Pimlott; ""Orpheus Descending"" ( Donmar Warehouse) and ""The Lady In the Van"" (Queen's Theatre), both directed by Nicholas Hytner; The Cherry Orchard directed by Trevor Nunn (Royal National Theatre); ""Juno and the Paycock ""directed by John Crowley (Donmar Warehouse ); ""Art"" (Wyndham's Theatre and Whitehall Theatres),""The Unexpected Man"" (Royal Shakespeare Company, Duchess Theatre) and ""The Winter’s Tale"" (Royal Shakespeare Company at Roundhouse (venue)) all directed by Matthew Warchus; ""Blast!"" (Apollo, Hammersmith); ""Cyberjam"""
"nominations from the Lucille Lortel Awards, the Drama Desk Awards, and the Laurence Olivier Awards. The play was part of the 2015 Dublin Theatre Festival and was performed at the Gaiety Theatre in Dublin. Following the success of the play in London and New York, further productions were scheduled for Chicago (Steppenwolf Theatre Company, 2014) and Los Angeles (Geffen Playhouse, 2015). The original cast at The Donmar in London and Off-Broadway at The Atlantic: The play is set in the drawing room of an Edwardian house in Dublin which is now a bedsit, inhabited by fifty-something, Tommy. He rents the"
"Revenger's Tragedy"" (2005/6), ""Edward the Second"" (2007), ""Women Beware Women"" (2008), ""The Duchess of Malfi"" (2010), ""The Witch of Edmonton"" (2011), ""The Maids"" (2012), ""Volpone"" (2012), ""Loot"" (2014), ""The Mystery of Irma Vep"" (2014), ""'Tis Pity She's a Whore"" (2015), ""The Changeling"" (2016), ""The School for Scandal"" (2016), ""Coriolanus"" (2016), ""The Government Inspector"" (2017). Red Bull Theatre The Red Bull was an inn-yard conversion erected in Clerkenwell, London operating in the 17th century. For more than four decades, it entertained audiences drawn primarily from the City and its suburbs, developing a reputation over the years for rowdiness. After Parliament closed"
"(1935 - 2015), Alan Tagg (1928 - 2002), Julia Trevelyan Oman (1930 - 2003) and David Walker (1934 - 2008). Including: Norman Ayrton (1924 - 2017), John Percy Burrell (1910 - 1972), Hugh Hunt (1911 - 1993), John Moody (1906 - 1993), David Phethean (1918 - 2001), Alex Reeve, and Jules Wright (1948 - 2015). Including: Bath Theatre Royal, Bristol Old Vic Company, Desperate Men, Old Vic (London), Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory, Show of Strength Theatre Company, Theatre Roundabout, Welfare State International, Women's Playhouse Trust, The Critics' Circle, The Gallery First Nighters' Club, National Student Drama Festival, Royal Theatrical"
"title (which in turn was expanded from an earlier, one act play ""People in the Wind"") by William Inge. The inspiration for the play ""Bus Stop"" came from people Inge met in Tonganoxie, Kansas. In the 1961–62 season, ABC adapted the play and film into a television series of the same name, ""Bus Stop"" starring Marilyn Maxwell as the owner of the bus station and diner. In the segment ""Chérie"" which most closely follows the film, Tuesday Weld performed the role of Marilyn Monroe, and Gary Lockwood appeared as the Don Murray character. A naive, rambunctious, overly enthusiastic and socially"
"""She Stoops to Conquer"", ""A Midsummer Night’s Dream"", ""Peter Pan"", ""The Mikado"", ""The Lost World"", ""Richard III"", ""Pride and Prejudice"", ""Three Men in a Boat"", ""Romeo and Juliet"", ""Macbeth"", ""Twelfth Night"", ""Cosi Fan Tutte"", and ""Earthquakes in London"". In 2018, the actress Amanda Redman, who was born in Brighton, became the theatre's new patron. She told the Argus, 'My stepfather used to bowl right here where the theatre is and my mother used to live in Dyke Road. When I was told about the history of this place I was incredibly moved. Whenever there is a venture where people are"
"The Man in the Back Seat The Man in the Back Seat is a 1961 British B-movie crime film, directed by Vernon Sewell and starring Derren Nesbitt and Keith Faulkner. The film was based on an Edgar Wallace story, and was tightly shot, with only four name-credited actors (one of whom remains silent through most of the film) and much of the action taking place in a cramped flat and the claustrophobic confines of a car at night. Cold and vicious Tony (Nesbitt) and his more pleasant natured but easily influenced partner-in-crime Frank (Faulkner) hatch a plan to rob bookmaker"
"also based on her. Amanda Wingfield in ""The Glass Menagerie"" was generally taken to represent Williams' mother, Edwina. Characters such as Tom Wingfield in ""The Glass Menagerie"" and Sebastian in ""Suddenly, Last Summer"" were understood to represent Williams himself. In addition, he used a lobotomy as a motif in ""Suddenly, Last Summer"". The Pulitzer Prize for Drama was awarded to ""A Streetcar Named Desire"" in 1948 and to ""Cat on a Hot Tin Roof"" in 1955. These two plays were later adapted as highly successful films, by noted directors Elia Kazan (""Streetcar""), with whom Williams developed a very close artistic"
"The Dover Road (play) The Dover Road is a 1921 comedy play by the British writer A. A. Milne. Leonard and Anne drive along the lovers' road to Dover, intending to embark for Calais and go to Paris. The car breaks down and Saunders takes them to a nearby hotel, which turns out to be a residence with servants, owned by a Mr. Latimer. They are told they cannot leave for seven days so that they can see if a marriage between them will work. The next day, Anne begins to notice things about Leonard that she ignored before. Another"
"in such places as on park benches in London. The two move into a derelict van in an apparently unused yard. They then resist repeated attempts to move them from their new home. The character of Old Pat echoes the title role in the Jeremy Sandford drama ""Edna the Inebriate Woman"" which Hayes had played in 1971, but is done with a greater sense of comedy. According to her autobiography, Hayes used costume items from her performance as Edna in the role of Old Pat. The Lady Is a Tramp (TV series) The lady is a tramp (also known as"
"residence at The Union Club, Soho, London (1997–present day) Poet in residence at The Arts Club, Mayfair, London (2014–16) Collected Works Vice & Verse (1997) Casual Sex and Other Verse (1997) How Freakin' Zeitgeist Are You? (2017) Children’s Books The Nine Dead Williams (2014) Modern Cautionary Tales For Children (In development) The Mystery of the Raddlesham mumps (In development) Collected Children’s Poems (In development) Stage A Captive Audience (1992) The Fabulous Twister Brothers (1993) Modern Cautionary Tales for Children (2005) The Incomers (2013) Rehab (2016) Film Features Under Milk Wood (Co-Written by, 2015) God’s Work (In development) The Mystery of"
"Remembered"", in 1972, but did not publish the book until 2002. Additionally, she published four novels, including ""Set to Partners"" (1968) and ""The Yellow Dress"" (1984), and five volumes of poetry. She provided libretti for other composers, including Herbert Howells, Malcolm Williamson and Elisabeth Lutyens, for example, her famous ""Hymn to St. Cecilia"", which was put to music by Howells. Vaughan Williams lived for many years in Gloucester Crescent near Camden Town, where her neighbours included Alan Bennett and David Gentleman. She appears as a character in Bennett's autobiographical play and film ""The Lady in the Van"", where she is"
"Hytner has directed. These are: ""The Madness of King George"" (1994), ""The Crucible"" (1996), ""The Object of My Affection"" (1998), ""Center Stage"" (2000), ""The History Boys"" (2006), and ""The Lady in the Van"" (2015). The latter three of these allowed Fenton to collaborate once again with their writer Alan Bennett. Although Fenton composed the original music of five of these films, for ""The Madness of King George"" he instead adapted and arranged the music of Handel. Fenton's long-standing collaboration with Stephen Frears has not been limited to television productions. Fenton has scored four of Frear's feature films: ""Dangerous Liaisons"" (1988),"
"the headline ""Curtain Up on Depravity"". Fountain's other plays include ""Tchaikovsky in the Park"" which played a season at the Bridewell Theatre in London. ""Last Bus From Bradford"" (winner of the Pink Paper Play Award) which was staged at the Drill Hall in London. ""Julie Burchill Is Away"", about the controversial newspaper columnist Julie Burchill, starring Jackie Clune, ""Deep Rimming in Poplar"" starring Bette Bourne, and the stage adaptation of Toby Young's book, ""How To Lose Friends and Alienate People"" starring Jack Davenport all of which played seasons at Soho Theatre in London's West End. Fountain adapted the Oscar-winning movie"
"The Driver's Seat (film) Identikit (also known as The Driver's Seat) is a 1974 Italian drama film directed by Giuseppe Patroni Griffi. Based on the novella ""The Driver's Seat"" by Muriel Spark, it is a psychological drama starring Elizabeth Taylor, Ian Bannen and featuring Andy Warhol. Lise, a mentally unbalanced middle-aged woman, travels from her home in London to Rome, Italy where she embarks on a fatal destiny that she had helped to arrange for herself - a premeditated search for someone, anyone, with whom she could form a dangerous liaison. Lise meets a variety of people during her journey"
"(Pocket Opera); ""Loot"" (Watford Palace Theatre); ""The Gambler"" (Everyman Theatre, Liverpool) and Grandpa George in ""Charlie and the Chocolate Factory"" (2015–17) at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. His film and television appearances includes ""Dog-Boy"" in ""Liquid Television"" (1992); ""True Crimes""; Brian Osbourne/Van Driver in ""The Bill"" (1988–2004); ""A Thing Called Love"" (2004); ""Crimewatch File"" (BBC); Riff Raff in ""The Rocky Horror Tribute Show"" (2006); Bar Sub Con in ""Inception"" (2010) and Gulag Prisoner in ""Muppets Most Wanted"" (2014). As a dancer he has performed in the films ""Gulliver's Travels"" (2010) and ""Alice Through the Looking Glass"" (2016). Thornber's choregraphy and"
"Adrienne Posta as their next-door neighbours, and Bernard Smidowicz as the Horsefall & Trott delivery driver. It was directed by Peter Hammond. Naughton himself provided the adaptation, and it was filmed on location in Bolton and at Lee International Studios in Wembley, London. The movie was the first film shot at Elstree Studios after Bryan Forbes took over. After the film version, Naughton's play returned to its radio roots no fewer than three times, featuring in the BBC's ""Afternoon Theatre"" strand in August 1975, July 1979 and July 1982. Spring and Port Wine Spring and Port Wine is a stage"
"The Driver's Seat (novel) The Driver's Seat is a novella by Muriel Spark. Published in 1970, it was advertised as ""a metaphysical shocker"". It is indeed in the psychological thriller genre, dealing with themes of alienation, isolation and loss of spiritual values. It was filmed in 1974 starring Elizabeth Taylor and featuring Andy Warhol. In the U.S the film was renamed ""Identikit"". Spark described it as one of her favourite novels. ""The Driver's Seat"" was, on 26 March 2010, one of six novels to be nominated for “Lost Man Booker Prize” of 1970, ""a contest delayed by 40 years because"
"British B with an intriguing idea that's been ingeniously executed. Director Vernon Sewell, who was responsible for some of the very worst quickies, outdoes himself with this haunting story."" The Man in the Back Seat The Man in the Back Seat is a 1961 British B-movie crime film, directed by Vernon Sewell and starring Derren Nesbitt and Keith Faulkner. The film was based on an Edgar Wallace story, and was tightly shot, with only four name-credited actors (one of whom remains silent through most of the film) and much of the action taking place in a cramped flat and the"