The name of the play that we are studying is ‘Cream Cracker under the Settee’. This play was written in 1987 by a middle aged Alan Bennett who was born in Leeds in 1934. He grew up through the Second World War and in his play he writes about how views on life have changed over the years. The play is part of the ‘Talking Heads’ series of plays in the 1980’s. ‘Cream Cracker’ is a dramatic monologue in which Doris, a 75 year old “lady of leisure”, speaks throughout. Doris is played by Dame Thora Hird who has just recently passed away.
The play explores the changes within society from when Alan Bennett was a child, through the sixties and to the 1987. In the 1960’s, the younger generations were getting most of the love and care from the family but the elderly were beginning to be seen as a hindrance. The play also explored how people had changed with the feeling that it was necessary to lock their doors and to be very secure rather than leaving the door open like they did in the ‘olden days’.
Doris’ personality changes throughout the play, as in the beginning, Doris wants to be independent but Zulema, Doris’ care worker, has forbid her from doing any housework. This enrages Doris as she believes Zulema doesn’t clean her house properly as she says “Zulema doesn’t dust. She half dusts”. This is pointing out that Doris is quite fussy with the help that she receives from Zulema and doesn’t seem to be grateful for any of it. There is proof that Doris is correct about the way Zulema dusts when she finds an old cream cracker under the settee. Doris intends on keeping the cream cracker to send off to social services to show that Zulema doesn’t dust her house. This shows that Doris is quite spiteful. Later on in the play, Doris seems to be quite dull but she also recites quite a few conversations that her late husband Wilfred and she had. An example of which is when she spoke about the garden and that Wilfred wanted to have a bush but Doris wanted concrete. Wilfred argued about it having non character but Doris wanted it because of the hygiene. This shows that Doris is quite obsessive about hygiene and now she has to try and keep her house tidy otherwise she believes she will be put in Stafford House, an elderly home, but in fact, it is the other way round. By cleaning Doris is putting herself at more risk of being put in Stafford house as she is not very good on her feet and suffers from dizzy spells and has a pacemaker. This will make the audience feel sorry for her and will make them hope that she doesn’t fall or be moved to Stafford House.
