Rock ‘n’ Roll, Tom Stoppard, Duke Of York Theatre

At the interval, you could divide the audience in two. Clever people feeling smug and the rest feeling slightly baffled.

Foolishly I was expecting something a tad lighter. But, as I’ve since been told, this is ‘Stoppard’. And ‘Stoppard’ can be like this, launching a competition to see how few of the audience can get the joke. If just one guy at the front with really thick glasses and seventeen letters after his name laughs, then Tom’s done his job.

It also felt like ‘Stoppard’ was trying to be a bit trendy. The loud music that punctuates the play sometimes worked very well but at other times came across as a bit try-hard. You know when your uncle – or, worse, your dad - that may have been quite cool in the seventies but really isn’t now tries to dance or sing along to Pink Floyd because they think they have the right. And it just doesn’t work. You can’t be a grown-up and do that. You just can’t pull it off.

There are some great things about the play, not least that it combines smart-arse clever with fascinating clever, well-acted clever and entertaining clever. But if I had paid 60 quid for a ticket because I loved 'Shakespeare in Love’ then didn’t get any of the jokes, I probably would have cried. It’s not for the masses, but it’s worth the pain. Just read up before you go.