In praise of ... Sir Peter Hall

Critics will tonight get their first look at Sir Peter Hall's new West End production of Amy's View with Felicity Kendal, the first major revival of the David Hare play since it premiered at the National Theatre nine years ago. Last weekend saw the theatre-going public's final chance to see Hall's wonderful new interpretation of Samuel Beckett's Waiting For Godot. If you missed it, you missed a real treat. Hall was the original director of the play when it was first performed in London 51 years ago, and his 2006 version was as fresh and funny and poignant as you imagine it was at the Arts Theatre in 1955. As part of his residency at Bath Theatre Royal, Hall this year brought us Alan Bennett's Habeus Corpus and Shakespeare's Measure for Measure, which went on with acclaim to Stratford. Both got four stars from Michael Billington in the Guardian.

It might be tempting fate to say that Hall is having an extremely good year. In an interview with Guardian earlier this year he said he did not like staying in: he thrives on rehearsals and is keen to direct new and original work. That includes his ambitious project at Kingston-upon-Thames to perform plays in a 1,000 seat theatre with a floor plan based on Shakespeare's Rose Theatre. Hall's Who's Who entry takes up almost an entire column. He started at the Theatre Royal, Windsor, in 1953. On Wednesday he will celebrate his 76th birthday. But he shows no signs of stopping - which is cheerful news for theatre audiences everywhere.