Literature: Antony sher

Antony Sher (left), the RSC master-actor, makes a one-off platform appearance at the National Theatre on Tuesday to read from his fourth novel, The Feast. Coloured by memories of Sher's South African homeland, The Feast paints an occasionally florid but evocative portrait of a decadent post-dictatorship African state, policed by small boys touting AK47s. Action centres around a rundown theatre, with sagging balconies and chipped cherubs, now less under threat from military censorship than the natural forces champing to overwhelm it - where the stage needs to be attacked with garden shears to trim away the weeds twirling up through the bare boards.

Cottesloe, National Theatre, South Bank, London SE1 (0171-452 3000) Tue, 6pm pounds 3.50/pounds 2.50 concs

Judith Palmer