THE ARRIVAL of an Oscar-winning playwright in our midst brought more than the usual crowd of critics including several national newspapers to Watford Palace theatre on Monday night along with a fair sprinking of celebity talent. I happened to spot a couple of Lark Rise To Candleford stars straight off. Olivia Grant (Closer, Stardust), who plays Lady Adelaide Midwinter in the ten-part TV adaptation of Flora Thompson's book and John Dagleish (Richard III, Moliere), who plays Alf Arless. I asked them what had brought them to Watford. John told me Di Trevis had directed his last production of Moliere and Olivia added that Lark Rise is also cast by Sarah Trevis, Di's sister, so it's obviously a family affair. I also found time to clock Anna Carteret (Juliet Bravo) and Will Young, and Tom Wilkinson (Michael Clayton) were sitting a couple of rows in front.

With the Oscars looming this weekend, it was gratfying to see Ronald Harwood in attendance, fresh from winning the BAFTA for best adapted screenplay with The Diving Bell and The Butterfly.

His new play An English Tragedy, which has its world premiere at Watford Palace, opens with the image of a large red and silver swastika and the sound of Nazi propaganda broadast over the airwaves. The production wastes no time in getting its message across.

Although on one level it concerns the trial of John Amery, who was executed for treason at the close of World War Two, An English Tragedy also raises the debate on what it meant to be English at the time and even today. The trial is used as a historical framework in which Harwood can discuss issues of nationality, identity, individuality, collectivism and social responsibility.

As we learn from his defence council, Amery failed to respond appropriately to other people all the way through his relatively short life. He died aged only 33. At the request of his lawyer, John's parents, Leo and Florence (Bryddie) Amery, agree to have a psychiatrist examine their son's mental condition. It is hoped that by shedding light on his state of mind, they might help clear their son, but unwittingly we see how their denial that he has any real problems to deal with has contributed to his lack of conscience and empathy for other human beings. The council hears reports of housemasters and tutors who failed to tame John during his youth. All involved talk of John's failure to be responsible for his actions and yet Leo and Bryddie continue to make excuses for him. They bare blind to how their own behaviour might have shaped him. As we see from their interaction with their son, their clipped manners and tendency to put their heads in the sand have contributed to his unfettered impulsiveness.

Despite the heaviness of the subject matter, corporal punishment, anti-Semitism and how a lack of pastoral care can have devastating effects on a child with suspected autistic tendencies, the play is full of humour and acerbic wit. It does not excuse John of his actions but rather examines the process by which his anti-social behaviour was allowed to go unchecked. Even as the gallows looms Amery senior feels he has to ask his son if he might give him a hug and John's laconic reply is addressed to his childhood toy rather than his father: "Teddy thinks not," he replies and the audience is left to ponder on how far this nation has come since then. It is a peculiarly English tragedy indeed.

Until Saturday, March 8.