Watching snooker at The Crucible - Richard Bean's "The Nap"

Sheffield's Crucible Theatre - home of the World Snooker Championship since 1977 - is an actual theatre throughout the rest of the year.  So it was no leap of imagination to stage a play about snooker at the cathedral of snooker - perhaps the only surprise is that it has taken so long.  The joy is that it has definitely been worth the wait.

Jack O'Connell shines as the local lad who comes good, despite the best intentions of his dad, Mark Addy.  Louise Gold almost steals the show as the sex-change gangster and Ralf Little out does BBC snooker pundit Rob Walker in his hyped-up presenter role to complement his hapless agent.  It works on local jokes and fruity language which has many laugh-out-loud moments for the audience.

Snooker at The Crucible, not in the sporting sense...

Richard Wilson has directed a hoot which deserves a good run and perhaps even a transformation to a TV play to reach a wider audience.