Patricia Routledge in Three Portraits

Patricia Routledge, one of Britain's most beloved actresses--her Hyacinth Bucket character from the sitcom Keeping Up Appearances is practically a national institution--and playwright Alan Bennett, one of the premiere names in contemporary British theater, have teamed up several times on one-woman monologues. Three of them, originally produced for BBC television, are gathered here: “A Woman of No Importance," "A Lady of Letters," and the Peabody Award-winning "Miss Fozzard Finds Her Feet," which aired in the U.S. on Masterpiece Theatre. In all three, Routledge portrays desperately unhappy women who endeavor mightily to convince us that their lives are more than concoctions of sad, tiny ambitions and pretenses to grandness and significance--they might be women to despise, or at best ignore, except that Routledge's performances turn them into poignant, even tragic characters, softening Bennett's keen, critical eye. The pieces dating from the 1970s and ‘80s aren't quite as crisp as the ‘90s production, but that's barely a distraction. DVD extras include a one-act play by Bennett starring Routledge and Hugh Lloyd, and a 1992 interview with Bennett and Routledge discussing their work together. Recommended. (M. Johanson)