Betty, played by the gorgeous Olivia Williams, is a blue jean-clad bluestocking; dean at a nearby university, and completely at odds with her redneck carpenter brother (Matthew Fox). She’s hastily clearing out her student-tenant’s stuff, and calls on her brother to help. But as they bicker about the past while they’re tidying up, it starts to become clear that they’re revealing an even bigger mess with every book they pack.

Even if, like me, you guess the slightly clichéd twists early on, there’s still lots to enjoy about this slick, shouty show. Matthew Fox proves himself to be an excellent presence on stage; there’s violence in every movement he makes. As Betty, Olivia Williams manages to convey both haughty disrespect for her bitter, Puritanical brother and an honest vulnerability when she admits how much she’s upset by her ageing, fading attractiveness.

In A Forest, Dark and Deep might not have the most depth of all the scripts currently available in the West End, but it certainly does have two of the best star performances.

In A Forest, Dark and Deep plays at the Vaudeville Theatre until 4 June. Book tickets here.

Omigod! Lee Mead is joining the cast of Legally Blonde from mid-June.

The winner of TV talent show Any Dream Will Do will replace original cast member Alex Gaumond in the role of Emmett Forest.

Since winning Any Dream Will Do, Lee Mead has starred in Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (from 2007 to 2009) and more recently, as Fiyero in long-running musical Wicked. The announcement comes in a big week for Legally Blonde The Musical: the show won three awards at the Oliviers on Sunday.

It’s also great news for his wife, Denise van Outen, who’s currently playing in the same show. Can anyone give us any other husband and wife couples from West End musical casts? Tell us in the comments below, please!

And I’ve another piece of casting news, this time from the Menier Chocolate Factory. Their new musial, Smash! will now be starring West Wing star Richard Schiff instead of Kerry Shale, who has withdrawn from the show for personal reasons. Schiff joins Laurence Olivier Award winner Tom Conti in Jack Rosenthal’s rarely performed comedy.

In other theatre news this week, British writer Stephen Poliakoff is returning to theatre after 12 years, with a new play at the Almeida Theatre in the autumn. Poliakoff has written more for screen than stage in recent years, but returns with drama My City in September. Other news from the Almeida includes Neil LaBute’s Reasons To Be Pretty, coming to the theatre from November. If you’re a Neil LaBute fan, and you can’t wait for this, check out In A Forest, Dark And Deep currently showing at the Vaudeville.

Finally, last year’s hit production of Yes, Prime Minister is back! You can catch the pun-filled political powerplay at the Apollo Theatre from 6 July until 17 September. British PM Jim Hacker and Cabinet Secretary Sir Humphrey Appleby will be played Richard McCabe and Simon Williams, who are currently starring in the touring production.