strike the prop

Fifty years ago, a West End actor like Noel Coward (left) could light a cigarette and exhale an elegant plume of smoke, secure in the knowledge that the audience would think 'cool'. Today's audience is more likely to think 'hope that's herbal'.

The next actors' prop to go through a 'value reversal' will be bottled water. Pretty soon, when an actor enters - just back from the gym, say - flops on a sofa, and swigs at a bottle of gently-carbonated Alpine mineral water, half the audience will be thinking 'what's wrong with the tap?'