"A Fine Northern Lass"

When a wartime schoolgirl, this woman rode her bike down country lanes, thinking "great thoughts and spouting pieces of poetry".

When a student ( reading English at Liverpool in the 1940's) this woman dreamed of being a headmistress, of travelling each summer in Europe, of embarking upon passionate love affairs...

But this woman had dramatic flair, she had imagination and a fine perception of people.

She had dignity, bearing and gravitas..

She also had a talent for mimicry and this talent gradually led her onto the stage...

And this woman loved the stage.

Never did she feel so alive as when she performed on a stage!

SO, obviously, A Big Decision had to be made!

After University, she took a year off to decide which path her life should follow.

AND thankfully, the stage beckoned in the form of work at the Liverpool Playhouse and the rest, as they say, is theatrical history...

And now this woman is almost as old as The Queen ( and she works equally as hard as The Queen)

She's been Hyacinth, Hettie, Miss Ruddock. She's been numerous others...

Yesterday I watched Katherine Patricia Routledge ( born Merseyside, 1929) perform on stage at The Lowry, Manchester, in an acclaimed production of Alan Bennett's thirty year old " Office Suite". ** ( see end of post)

This is a production brimming with Bennett's droll ( one could say) dangerously accurate view of northern people, from his vantage at a certain time, in a certain place. It's also a tasty helping of Bennett's appreciation of the commonplace, his crisp observations on Life and Its ( I think) Wonderful Ordinariness...

It's a double bill, comprising two short plays; these are " A visit from Miss Prothero" and " Green Forms".

The first play involves a bumptious lady, Miss P, who visits the home of a retired office colleague, the recently widowed Mr Dodsworth ( Bennett's names are always EXACTLY right, aren't they?). And the purpose of Miss P's visit is to subtly inform Mr D how very well his successor is doing, thus shattering the quiet contentment of poor Mr D's gentle life..

The second play " Green Forms" is set in an office where two women bicker and giggle, plot and scheme. And gradually, we see again the shattering of lives, the abrupt ending of two women's illusions...

In his writing, Bennett delights in The Northern Woman; he has vast experience of them ( see, for example, " Untold Stories" Faber and Faber, 2005) beginning with his mother, the indefatigable Lillian, and a trio of aunts ( Kathleen, Lemira, Eveline) Many of his characters are drawn from these people who passed noiselessly ( or otherwise) through his Leeds childhood, his youth...

And yesterday we saw an actress who epitomises these people, who thrills her audience with them ( thrills Bennett with them too, I imagine) ..whose acting UNDERSTANDS them...

** AND yes, I'm wondering...

WHAT did Bennett make of Ricky Gervais's "take" on secretaries and bosses and files and 9-5 Life?

Bennett and Gervais: 2 vastly different views of office work: its characters, its dialogues, its settings......its routines, pettiness, jealousies, its laughter, its stifling comfiness, its sheer sexiness...

Both productions were special to their eras, both were of their own time.

BUT both, I think, were successful because they captured the same timeless glimpses which different generations recognised, which resonated with us all...

Patricia Routledge appears at The Lowry until the end of the week.