Yet another play that drew me in by virtue of its star-studded cast. Simon Bird, Tom Rosenthal and Charlotte Ritchie, not to mention Lily Cole (yes, I know, I was puzzled too) all directed by Simon Callow?!! How could it go wrong??

Well, in my eyes, mostly, it didn’t. The play is a twist on Moliere’s ‘The Misanthrope’, and while most critics panned it for not even remotely having the depth and breadth of the original, I am happy to put my hands up and say I’m no Moliere expert. So for me, the geeky word jokes were a joy, as were the one-liners (‘I’m a man of no convictions. At least I think I am’). The only thing that wasn’t explained with enough plausibility for my liking is why on earth Lily Cole’s leggy, supermodel beauty would be interested in going after Bird’s bookish, nerdy academic type.

Overall: an entertaining (albeit slightly unbelievable) play pulled off by a talented cast.

National Theatre productions are generally always a bit different and interesting. So a modern Twelfth Night was no great surprise. A female Malvolio (Malvolia), though, was an entirely different matter…

Tamsin Greig, always a favourite of mine, played the role, here modernised into a housekeeper rather than the usual manservant of Olivia. There were plenty of other quirky touches too, including fancy suits, sports cars and a set based around a gleaming white staircase.

I don’t always love modernised Shakespeare (I’m a bit of a traditionalist really) but this production did a really great job and Tamsin Greig made the part of Malvolia truly her own.

Overall: very good modern Shakespeare handled masterfully by a superb cast