Thematically Peter Shaffer's new play [Amadeus] is bold and of profound interest: it deals with the mysteries of genius and of the creative process (as did Equus) and with the contrast between the overcivilised and the natural man (as did The Royal Hunt of the Sun), between sexual restraint and the free flow of self-expression through sex (as did The Battle of Shrivings)…. [Amadeus] is complex and built on an epic scale.

And here, I feel, lies its problem: neither the form nor the language of Amadeus is up to its tremendous subject-matter. To put a man like Mozart on the stage is, admittedly, the most daunting of all projects. How can genius be made manifest in the theatre? The writer of the play would have to be of equal genius to invent lines of convincing impact, otherwise the genius in question would become a mere lay-figure, a...