THEATRE: COMING ATTRACTIONS

If you were trying to describe Nigel Planer, the word "lugubrious" would probably feature. Although he got his first big break understudying David Essex in Evita, he will always be dogged by his television performance as Neil, the drop-out hippie of The Young Ones fame. But his blossoming stage career means that he should be remembered as more than Britain's most popular depressive. Last year he was Ruthie Henshall's husband in Chicago, and now he is preparing to lead High Life, which is already an off-Broadway success.

`High Life' previews at The Bush, London W12 (0181-743 3388) from 16 June

Rachel Halliburton