Mark Rylance in Jerusalem.

For those who don't know or didn't read my post lately The Greatest Actor In the World I discussed who was the best actor in the world, if there ever could be such a person, as it was suggested by some pundits that the best actor in the world was one Mark Rylance who was, and is, starring in the west end in the play Jerusalem by Jez Butterworth.

Well I went to see for myself on Friday evening. The play is sold out till the end of its run in January and the only way to get a really terrible ticket is to turn up at six-o-clock each morning at the theatre and queue till ten-o-clock when the box office opens.

These are the worst seats – I believe the front row, because you can't see further back on the stage than a few feet - some seats where you cannot see all of the stage and my seat; on the upper circle above the action where you have to creak your neck.

If I sat back in my seat all I would see was the ceiling so I had to lean forward and look down. This meant I couldn't sit on my seat without tipping it up and sitting on the edge, or kneeling on the floor and then when I looked down my view was blocked by some lamps that were lighting the stage – but I saw it and enjoyed it and it will be one of those shows and performances that I won't forget; even if only for the stiff neck I have today.

But did I get up at six-o-clock to get to the theatre to queue? Not on your life.

I knew about the queuing and had mulled it over in my mind a few times and I planned to pay good money and book a seat sometime – but I never did.

It so happened I had an appointment in the west end at ten-o-clock and I passed the theatre and saw a small queue. At that moment, a few minutes to ten, the box office wasn't open so I carried on to my appointment. I had to pass the theatre again at ten forty five and thought I might go in to box office, which I did, to ask if there were any of the £10 tickets left and I was told yes – one.

When I saw where it was, I declined and said I'll take my chances for another day and that's when the box office clerk told me that the rest of the run was sold out.

I went out walked about ten yards down the street, turned around, and went back and bought the ticket.

So what was like what was it about and is he the greatest actor in the world?

First of all the title Jerusalem; it is based on the poem by William Blake which was eventually made in to a song or even a hymn. The poem is set out below and most people in England know it as as a song as it's about England – old England and . .. well judge for yourself.

England is surrounded by three Celtic countries and one of its counties, Cornwall, is populated with Celts. Who are Celts? Well we (yes we - I am one and so is my brother and my kiddlewinkles no matter where they were born) are wild, colourful people who believe and like myths and legends. We believe in fairies, giants, Leprechauns, folk lore and love to tell and listen to stories.

The English don't believe in any of this rubbish – but they did at one time. There are just as many myths and legends from England but nobody talks about them any more; the only thing that has survived is Morris Dancing; and there is a Morris Dancer in the play.

The play, Jerusalem, is about a Gypsy who lives in a caravan, which looks a bit like a railway carriage, near a new estate in Wiltshire. The cast have Wiltshire accents and apart from Mark Rylance and possible three others, are teenagers.

The teenagers gather at his caravan where they can score with drugs, booze and party all night.

The local council have been serving him, Billy 'Rooster' Byron, for many years, notices to quit; but he ignores them. He is the kind of man that would pull a steam roller with his teeth or bend an iron bar in his mouth; the kind of thing that was always on TV in Britain at one time.

The play opens with two police constables serving a final notice on him and throughout the action, both comic and serious, there us a growing threat and a feeling of impending doom.

The kids come to him also to listen to his stories as he is the old style Englander with many a tale to tell. One of the tales he tells it that he has very rare Romany blood which he sells to the local hospital for £800 every so many months.

In his youth he was a kind of Evel Knievel jumping buses on his motor bike and one day hit one of the buses which gave him a terrible limp. This is played with such authenticity that I thought it was a real injury.

Also a young girl, aged fifteen, is missing and her father comes to the caravan looking for her.

The set is incredible – there appears to be grass growing, there's dirt where he can bury an ax and behind the caravan is a forest; which looks real.

So is he the best actor in the world? Hard to say but I don't know any better. As I mentioned before it depends on taste, suitability to the role you are playing and lots of other things.

The play lasts three hours and ten minutes which includes two intervals amounting to twenty minutes. There may be ten minutes throughout the whole evening where Mark Rylance is off the stage.

It is a terrific heroic performance and he deserves the plaudits he has received – a Tony on Broadway and the Laurence Olivier Award in London.

I saw him a few years ago in Los Angeles in the Globe Theatre's all male production of William Shakespeare's Measure for Measure where he played the Duke. I think that was one of the best Shakespearean performances I have ever seen but he used some of the tricks he used in that in his performance in Jerusalem – a kind of pause at the end of a line and then dropping a whole sentence – which might become or is already his shtick. It will be interesting to see what he does with Richard III which he is due to do next at Shakespeare's Globe in London.

It will be a new production of Shakespeare's Richard III and he will recreate one of his more startling performances as Olivia in an all-male Twelfth Night. The production had sumptuous period costumes by Jenny Tiramani, handstitched down to the last corset stiffener, which took him half an hour to struggle into every night.

After the performance in Los Angeles, I couldn't find my car in the UCLA car park and wandered around for about fifteen minutes and who should I meet getting into their SUV but Mark Rylance and some of his cast. He had a very gentle hand shake and seemed a very nice fella.

Here is Jerusalem by William Blake:

JERUSALEM (from 'Milton')

by: William Blake (1757-1827)

And did those feet in ancient time
Walk upon England's mountains green?
And was the holy Lamb of God
On England's pleasant pastures seen?
And did the Countenance Divine
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
And was Jerusalem builded here
Among these dark Satanic Mills?
Bring me my bow of burning gold!
Bring me my arrows of desire!
Bring me my spear! O clouds, unfold!
Bring me my chariot of fire!
I will not cease from mental fight,
Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand,
Till we have built Jerusalem
In England's green and pleasant land.