Tough guy tamed

It's a bit hard to take it in, but it's there on the posters: Ross Kemp is starring in The Taming Of The Shrew. Not the Maiming Of The Screw, but William Shakespeare's comedy The Taming Of The Shrew.

In the foyer, there is some brisk ticket action. The bar is also doing a roaring trade, and the customers are better behaved than those on a bad night at the Queen Vic. All age groups are present but there are more young people than might normally be expected.

What no one knows is that Ross Kemp nearly didn't make it tonight, owing to an encounter the day before with a dodgy crab.

Later, when I meet him backstage, he goes into some detail about this, but I shall spare you that. If a lad from the East End via a spell in the SAS can't manage a bit of unruly seafood, then what's the world coming to?

There is some business of scene setting to be attended to before Ross makes his entrance. All we really need to know is that his character Petruchio takes on the task of subduing the willful and caustic Kate, played by Nichola McAuliffe. it sounds like a job for a tough geezer, and that's what we've got here.

Except that it doesn't quite work out like that, for a few moments, I fear that the crab is still doing its beastly work, but then I realise that Ross Kemp is actually doing some proper acting.

This is not the eye-popping Grant Mitchell from EastEnders, or the vein-bulging Henno from Ultimate Force. To be sure, he is attired in clothes befitting a hunting-and-fishing type from 1960s Italy, but the man is unmistakably acting.

At the interval, back in the bar, people are being taken aback. Elizabeth, Bethan and Jessica are agreed that they are pleasantly surprised that Ross Kemp is funny, which is a trick he has not chosen to pull off too often in the past. Christopher and Hazel are also enjoying this lighter side of the TV tough guy. While Ros is delighted he didn't come on "and start shouting at everyone".

In the second half, Kemp keeps up the good work. There are delicate flourishes of the hand, judicious use of the raised eyebrow, and a very decent grasp of comic timing. Above all, Kemp never attempts to dominate the stage in the manner of some exotic import. His dominance is kept for Kate, and that is relatively mild.

After the final curtain, I visit the dressing-room where Ross Kemp stands bare-chested in jeans. To one side is a large basket of red roses. But there is no luvvie in residence.