The Giant - TNT

Thanks to the ingenuity of designer William Dudley, the intimate Hampstead theatre gets its own impressive replica of Michelangelo's "David" in Antony Sher's ambitious new play about the creation of one of the most familiar sculptures of all time. Set in Florence at the beginning of the 16th century (and imagined from the perspective of a fictional young quarryman who servesas the model for the statue) this exploration of the relationship between repressed homoerotic urges and creativity successfully conveys the emotional and practical challenges of artistic endeavour. It's got more than its fair share of nudity – but it's also hugely overwritten. If only Sher had been as fastidious in excising the verbiage from his material as Michelangelo was in freeing his magnificent creation from the huge block of Carrara marble, this dramatised Renaissance rivalry between the driven, obsessive young sculptor and the older, resolutely celibate Leonardo Da Vinci could have been so much more persuasive.
Hampstead Eton Avenue, NW3 (020-7722 9301). Until 1st December. Tickets -£10-£22
Louise Kingsley