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I go through phases of reading film or stage scripts from time to time as you get to see your own version of the performance in your mind’s eye. Besides, it’s the only way to read the works of, say, Arthur Miller, Harold Pinter or Tennessee Williams who did not write novels.

And so it is with Jez Butterworth, whose comedy, Jerusalem, was first performed to high acclaim in 2009 at the Royal Court Theatre in London with Mark Rylance in the lead role of Johnny ‘Rooster� Byron � a former fairground motorcycle ‘jumper� fallen on hard times, living in a derelict caravan in a Somerset forest and making ends meet with drug dealing whilst surrounded by local stragglers and teenage girls. Unsavoury to say the least. The story circles round his last-stance attempts to defend his sacred little piece of England against imminent Council eviction.

This is a clever, witty and learned script full of nuances that I think might be missed in live performance due to the speed of the dialogue. I cannot quite imagine Mark Rylance playing this rough character � for which he won a Tony Award � as I will forever see him as the charismatic Thomas Cromwell in Wolf Hall. He is, apparently, due to reprise the role in a revival of the play this summer in London’s West End (restrictions allowing) which will be worth looking out for.