APPROPRIATELY enough, Edward York's recent experiences read like something from a bittersweet Alan Bennett drama. On the eve of his first acting job for months, Edward's "lovely old banger" was written off by a hit-and-run teenage driver who had a need for speed but no insurance or driving licence.

"It's so annoying. One person's maniacal stupidity just buggers everything up," says Edward, with some feeling.

"I've been out of work since January, and it happens the day before rehearsals in Stoke."

Fortunately he escaped with just whiplash, the rehearsals were completed and the show is going on. Delivered by public transport to Harrogate Theatre, Edward, right, stars in one of Alan Bennett's Talking Heads monologues, A Chip In The Sugar, from Wednesday.

This is the one that Bennett played himself in the TV production.

"It is impossible to follow him and his manner of delivery. I think the guy's a genius," Edward said.

"He's probably underrated because he's got this reputation for being effete and whimsical."

But Edward knows the play almost as well as the playwright. He toured with it in his van in 1996, forming a one-man production company, Big Note, as a way of generating his own work.

He was attracted to the Talking Heads monologues because of their confessional nature. The 48-year-old actor is a fervent diarist.

"I have still got my very first diary, one of those little Letts diaries from when I was ten years old. They're quite funny.

"This one's been going since 1987. I am always doing things like having a little Dictaphone and recording meetings, and recording bits of shows during technical rehearsal. I don't know why. Maybe it's something about the nature of theatre; it's so ephemeral and I'm trying to capture the essence of it."

Edward's diary is full of positive entries about A Chip In The Sugar, he says. He plays Graham Whittaker, a man who still lives with his mum but finds his position threatened by the appearance of his mother's old flame.

The audience should certainly find Graham a moving character, but "I hope they will find I am quite funny as well. It's not as if he's a wholly sad person.

"The great thing about all of these pieces is the mixture of humour and poignancy."

Edward, best known to Harrogate audiences as the villain and, last Christmas, the hero of the town's pantomimes, is directed by Peter Cheeseman, who pioneered documentary theatre in Stoke-on-Trent.

The other monologue is Her Big Chance, starring Anna Rose as the aspiring, but hopeless, actress. This was the role taken by Julie Walters on TV. Anna's performance is "brilliant", Edward says.

He expects Bennett's notorious shyness will prevent him coming to watch the production, even though he is president of Harrogate Theatre.

After Talking Heads, Edward's diary - his professional one, that is - is empty. "I'm still waiting for the call from Spielberg."

Now that would be a date for the diary.

Talking Heads, Harrogate Theatre, May 30 to June 2; evening performances at 7.30pm, Thursday and Saturday matinees at 1.30pm. Tickets: from £5; ring 01423 502116.