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Brenda Blethyn is one of those actors who radiates warmth. Not actressey. Not pretentious. Not stagey – just real. Her crackling personality lights up the screen in the new Australian black comedy Clubland by Cherie Nowlan (Thank God He Met Lizzie ).
It's the story of Jean (Blethyn),a mother of two, divorcee and cabaret performer whose relentlessly bawdy act has seen better days. Doing the rounds of Sydney's shabbier RSL clubs, she's only getting only scant recognition from the audience, which is an ongoing bruising to her ego. She had a taste of fame in England in the 1970s when her coquettish take on Benny Hill was more in fashion. Poor Jean is quite bemused she can't work the room these days with her shrill jokes about men and their members.
© ABC
