Alan Bennett at 80.

There are few dramatist who are more loved in my opinion than Alan Bennett who turned 80 last Friday. There was an interview of him by Sir Nickolas Hytner on BBC Four to mark the occasion. They have collaborated on a number of his plays together at the National Theatre recently, the most famous being The History Boys. I first saw Bennett in Beyond The Fringe in the 1960's after it had transferred to London from the Edinburgh Fringe. Another one of his greatest plays was The Madness of King George III. He has that wonderful laconic delivery, more Eeyore than Piglet. He betrays that character trait in abundance in his interview. He feels he's missed out on life, and made reference in particular to sex. Hytner asked about his interest in the monarchy and the Queen. Bennett's reply was so illuminating he said "its a ready made plot". Its intriguing that we the general public are an audience watching history in the making, we are all part of the plot as well. Referring to one of his plays where the headmaster played by Sir John Gielgud in Forty Years On he said  "we cannot stand still even at the best of times". This could easily be said of Bennett.