Michael Frayn is a clever humourist, a master of the witty phrase, the extended satirical anecdote. These talents … ensured that at least I laughed a great deal throughout Clouds, Frayn's new play….

Clouds is set in Cuba—or at any rate an empty blue sky with beneath it just six chairs and a table. Into this void step Mara and Owen, two English writers come to report on life after the revolution. She … is a lady novelist of the Edna O'Brien type; he …, a jumpy, neurotic journalist…. Accompanying them on the tour of the country is Angel …, their slow-moving, slow-talking Cuban guide…. Also on the sightseeing tour is Ed …, an idealist academic from the wilds of Illinois, who, on visiting a new town site, manages to see future socialist worlds in piles of industrial sand. Finally there is Hilberto …, the party's happy-go-lucky, cigar-smoking driver. Is he the real...