A PERFORMANCE of Alan Bennett’s monologue Bed Among the Lentils in Stonesfield on Friday will raise money for Charlbury charity SpecialEffect.

The piece, written for the playwright’s Talking Heads series on BBC TV in 1988, will be performed by Caroline Friend, a long-standing member of the Stonesfield Players, in the barn at the village’s White Horse pub.

The piece is a bittersweet glimpse of what goes on in the mind of vicar’s wife Susan, who finds her husband, his parishioners and God extremely trying and turns to drink.

Mrs Friend, who is the mother of the Homeland and The Young Victoria actor Rupert Friend, said: “Alan Bennett’s script is so witty, so sharp and so clever – but it’s sad and touching as well.

“It’s a treat to be stepping into another person’s shoes and exploring what goes on under the surface, what infuriates them, what gives them joy.”

Tickets for the show, which starts at 8pm and runs for 45 minutes, are priced £7 and can be reserved by emailing helencannons@btinternet.com