Woody Allen turns to stage

Woody Allen decided the time was right to direct his own plays

Woody Allen has made his theatre directorial debut in an off-Broadway production.

Allen directs a production called Writer's Block which debuts two one-act plays at the Atlantic Theater in New York.

Movie and TV actor Paul Reiser stars opposite Bebe Neuwirth, best known for playing Lilleth in the sitcom Frasier, in the Riverside Drive and Old Saybrook.

Neuwirth won a Tony Award for her role as the murderess Velma Kelly in the US stage production of Chicago, while Reiser has had numerous Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for the sitcom Mad About You.

Reiser said it was an honour to work with the legendary Woody Allen.

Every now and then I get an idea that I think would be more suited to the stage than to film

Woody Allen

"It's fun. It's luxuriously easy. A few hours a day I sit around in a room with Woody Allen making jokes work, that's fun," he said.

"And it feels like a community theatre, it's so low-tech. There are no producers, there's no studio - it's just art for the sake of fun."

Oscar win

Although Allen has written and starred in at least nine plays including Broadway hits Don't Drink the Water and Play It Again, Sam, he has never taken the plunge into theatre directing before.

But has plenty of experience to draw on from his numerous films, for which he has won three Oscars for writing and directing, including Annie Hall and Hannah and Her Sisters.

"Every now and then I get an idea that I think would be more suited to the stage than to film," Allen told the New York Times.

"The two one-acters that make up Writer's Block are both such ideas. I've never directed anything in the theatre before and have no idea whether I'll have any flair for it.

"I took the project to the Atlantic Theatre Company because I really like their work over the years and feel very proud that they think Writer's Block was funny enough to put on."