The Norwich Players present

Getting On

By Alan Bennett

18 - 26 November Box Office 01603 620917

Directed by Jen Dewsbury

Middle-aged MP George Oliver is 10 years into his second marriage. He lives in his middle-class home with his bustling, attractive wife Polly and his children – and yet he feels disillusioned by the passing years and tied down in a time of change. George is a disenchanted reformer out of touch with his family, his friends and his neighbours – with the world he has tried to change. He is distrustful of the young, but fearful for the middle-aged as they head towards the inevitable end of a not-so-very-interesting road. “He's a socialist,” observes Polly. “But he doesn't like people!”

Leeds-born actor and writer Alan Bennett – who turned 82 in May – has long been acclaimed as a 'national treasure', and his sharp, witty, observational humour continues to win him new legions of followers. 'Getting On' (1972) is among the earliest full-length plays of his prolific career. If you giggled helplessly throughout the Maddermarket's smash-hit production of Bennett's touching comedy 'The Lady in the Van' – turned into a critically acclaimed film starring Dame Maggie Smith in 2015 – you'll not want to miss another helping of Bennett's magic when 'Getting On' hits the stage!

This ‘small jewel of bewilderment and regret’ (Sunday Times) won the Evening Standard Award for Best Comedy in 1971 and is classic Bennett: disenchantment and disappointment conveyed through painful hilarity and laugh-out-loud jokes.