THE GOAT or WHO IS SYLVIA? Theatre Royal, Haymarket

Some members of the audience found Edward Albee’s play so shocking and disturbing that they tried to laugh it off. But Albee is being serious. The dialogue is often funny; the situation never is. Laughter is, of course, a defence mechanism. A world-famous architect (Damian Lewis) falls in love with a goat. Not surprisingly, his wife (Sophie Okenedo) starts throwing the crockery around.