Me, Myself and him

In this piece, Courtenay, as the poet, attempts a deeper, broader portrait of the man equally famous for refusing to become Poet Laureate. By linking extracts from Larkin's journals and letters with several of his poems, he reconstructs a day late in the poet's life.

And, as the title also suggests, the overall thrust of the piece is an attempt to understand who Larkin really was: a mission constantly undermined by the inherent contradictions of the man himself.

At over two hours, it is unnecessarily long, and suffers from having little theatrical content. Courtenay, all awkward limbs and nervous stutter, inhabits Larkin well, nicely capturing the rhetorical gloss of much of the poet's misanthropy and his enduring peppery wit, while also suggesting Larkin's often overlooked humanity and the conflicts that plagued him.

Courtenay stumbles on the poetry - it is too conversational for theatre - and struggles to make the meandering structure cohere.

The evening is a visible labour of love for the actor (he devised it himself), and as such he is a joy to watch, but his performance would have benefited from more judicious direction from Ian Brown. As it stands there is almost more Courtenay than Larkin.

Until April 26, Comedy Theatre, Panton Street W1, Mon to Sat 7.30pm, Sat mats 3pm, £10 to £32.50.

Tel: 020 7369 1731. Tube: Piccadilly Circus/Leicester Square

Pretending To Be Me