Romantic Comedy

Published Tuesday 18 September 2007 at 12:40 by James Green

Kate Atkinson - remember the name. This “unknown” Australian actress is about to live the oldest theatrical cliche - the undiscovered girl who finds herself stealing the show.

She came to London seeking a career break and with nothing happening, was about to return to Oz when the producers, somewhat surprising themselves, discovered she was ideal for the vital role of Phoebe Craddock.

When the play was staged in the West End, the two romantic leads were played by Tom Conti and Pauline Collins. Conti is still starring sexily in this new production, all charm and black-and-silvery haired, and the perfect foil for the young Aussie.

When the latter makes her nervous entrance, she is total geek, dressed like a walking boot sale - spectacles, scar, layers of ill-fitting clothes, funny boots, and embarrassingly naive.

Conti is the selfish, neurotic monster American playwright Jason Carmichael who, needing a new collaborator, makes small-town schoolteacher Phoebe his co-writer.

This showbusiness setting allows many comic lines such as forget a play closing overnight - “nothing lasts forever” - and “the pain of a bad review is followed by bitterness”. Or how about Conti’s explanation of his divorce from Allison (Elizabeth Payne): “I married Grace Kelly and ended up with Margaret Thatcher.”

Michael Fitzpatrick as Phoebe’s husband, Eleanor David as the writer’s delightful assistant, and Melanie Bond as a sex-pot actress complete the cast.

But it is the Conti-Atkinson axis that dominates. From Conti it is expected, but for the talented performance from the newcomer, she merits a “good on yer Kate.”