THEATRE: CURTAIN CALLS

This week's quiz question concerns Neil Simon: which of his movies, starred the legendary Jack Lemmon and Anne Bancroft? The answer is his tale of marital urban angst, The Prisoner of Second Avenue. Its cinema pedigree was marvellous (even in 1975 Bancroft was a disgracefully under- used comedienne), so who better to fill their shoes for the stage version than Richard Dreyfuss (above) and Marsha Mason. Not only is the latter the second Mrs Simon - which sounds like a play in itself - but, together with Dreyfuss, this pair have a Simon-inspired chemistry.

They starred in his extremely successful 1977 movie, The Goodbye Girl. I use the word "starred" advisedly because the pair shone in what was, frankly, second-league stuff. Sorry to remind you of it, but you only had to see the instantly forgettable musical version to see how flaccidly sentimental the script turned out to be without the high-class playing of these two. Thus casting them in the British stage premiere of The Prisoner of Second Avenue is a very smart idea.

You should also know that the original film, released a year before the first of the five (count 'em) Rocky movies, contained a tiny role for one Sylvester Stallone. So check out the bit-part players in this stage version. Who knows where they'll be in the future.

At the Theatre Royal, Haymarket, London SW1 (0171-930 8800)