Watch out for . . .

ALISTAIR BEATON, who updates key sections of his new comedy Fracked! (Or Please Don’t’ Use the F-Word) whenever the occasion merits. The play, running at Chichester’s Minerva Theatre and reviewed in today’s paper on page 48, is about the controversial issue of digging way deep for energy in a picturesque South Coast village. A smooth-talking public relations bloke, the sharp Oliver Chris, is hired to worm his way into the hearts and minds of the locals — played with verve by Anne Reid and James Bolam. One topical gag Beaton had Chris mouth was to do with the hopeless Southern railways. It went down a treat. A couple of weeks ago there was a joke about the Tory leader hopeful Andrea Leadsom deciding to have her children adopted — by her political rival Theresa May. Once Leadsom quit the leadership race the gag was dropped. I did a double bill last weekend of Fracked! and Half A Sixpence — and I got my money’s worth .

ROBERT ICKE, who is adapting Friedrich Schiller’s Mary Stuart, about an imagined meeting between Mary Queen of Scots and elizabeth i, said his version of the play will look at ‘female sexuality and how it interacts with female power’. He observed that there are quite a few examples around at the moment. the play, starring Juliet Stevenson and Lia Williams, left, in alternating roles, will run at the Almeida theatre from December 2 until January 21.

BEVERLEY KNIGHT, right, and Ben Richards, who were both on fire when I saw the new, lean The Bodyguard at the Dominion in London on Tuesday. Everything about it worked. And as I remarked last week, Ms Knight emerges as a bona fide West End star. No longer the soul diva doing a bit of acting in her spare time, she looks and feels very much at home on stage. It’s a good ensemble and I liked Rachel John, who plays the sister of main character Rachel Marron. The Bodyguard has taken £2million at the box office, which is great for a show that’s only running till January.

i DIDN’T manage to catch Don Warrington’s towering King Lear in director Michael Buffong’s production, which was produced by the talawa theatre, Manchester’s Royal exchange and the Birmingham Rep. But i saw it online at bbc.co.uk/shakespearelives where its available on demand until September as part of the BBC/British Council Shakespeare Lives digital festival. it’s unmissable.