ENGAGING from start to finish, Kean is irresistible .

Satirically funny, thought-provoking and pin-pricked with sadness, Satre's play is compelling and Antony Sher - probably the reason why half the audience were there - is exceptional.

Charismatic and passionate, he is ideal for the part.

The real Edmund Kean lived during Victorian times. He was a hard-drinking, womanising all-or-nothing actor. The poet Coleridge said to see him act was like reading Shakespeare by flashes of lighting.

Similarly, when you see Sher on stage it is impossible not to sit up and take notice. He has the audience in the palm of his hand throughout.

In the opening scene of the play, Kean is in the final throws of performing Richard III.

This play within a play is the first of many as it soon becomes apparent Kean's entire life is a public performance.

Eventually he heads towards self-destruction, like a Shakespearian tragic hero or an example of Satre's existentialism.

The performance of Othello - when Kean finally goes mad - is breathtaking. One second we were laughing, the next stunned into silence and just as the boundaries between reality and illusion blurred for Kean, they did for the audience when the performers turned and seemed to speak to us directly.

Although it is unclear why the play appears to be set in the 1950s, it works well. Mark Thompson's sets are stylish, as are the costumes.

Sher is supported by an equally capable cast. Alex Avery makes a very debonair Prince of Wales, Joanne Pearce is an engaging Elena, Countess de Koefeld and Sam Kelly is flawless as Kean's dresser Salomon.

Kean runs at Malvern Theatres until Saturday, April 21.