Luke Jones

Brokeback Mountain (Soho Place Theatre, London) Verdict: A 90-minute snooze Rating: Brace yourself for a lonely night on Brokeback Mountain. You’ll remember the hit film. Here we’ve a brisk adaptation of the original short story. I’m not sure why. Cowboys Jack and Ennis are as tough as pre-washed denim. Jack rattles on about rodeo; Ennis is a downbeat old soul — Levi Strauss might well have labelled him ‘distressed’.

Of Mice & Men (Birmingham Rep) Verdict: Hard Work *** Birmingham Rep has been one of our brightest, most joyous and raucous theatres over the past couple of years; with feelgood shows such as The Play What I Wrote (and its big-name guest stars like Tom Hiddleston), the glorious Tom Jones musical What’s New Pussycat? and Spitting Image satire Idiots Assemble. Now, though, it’s back down to the arid earth of dustbowl America — in this stage adaptation of John Steinbeck’s 1937 novel Of Mice And Men.