Sand in the Sandwiches review – Edward Fox's Betjeman is tediously tasteful

Theatre Royal Haymarket, London
Hugh Whitemore’s witty but dull homage to the quintessentially English poet lacks the cleverness and drama of his Stevie Smith play

“Arbitrary and irrelevant” was the Manchester Guardian’s view on John Betjeman, whose crisp verse detailed a vanishing England of buttered toast, country churches and suburban tennis clubs, when he was appointed poet laureate in 1972. You might say the same about this one-man show by Hugh Whitemore, performed by Edward Fox.

Related: Edward Fox: ‘I cry all the time. I like crying’