Alan Bennett’s extraordinary ear for dialogue and sharpness of perception have made him a master storyteller. In Father! Father! Burning Bright he writes with tragicomic insight about a son’s vigil at his father’s deathbed where their lifelong battle continues to the end. The Laying on of Hands, a brilliantly funny satire, describes a society memorial service for a rather special masseur who died tragically young; and in Miss Fozzard Finds her Feet, a lonely, unmarried department store clerk discovers there’s more to life than looking after her brother through her only indulgence, her podiatrist.