Brief Encounter

Kneehigh Theatre's whimsical adaptation of the Noël Coward one-act play and screenplay is wowing the crowds at Studio 54. Under Emma Rice's shrewd direction, the troupe pulls off one clever and adorable coup de théâtre after another. However, more than the production's neat use of video backdrop, music-hall interludes and circus stunts, the event is notable for a warm, magnetic star turn by Hannah Yelland, playing a repressed English housewife.—David Cote