by Keily Oakes BBC News Online entertainment staff

X-Files actress Gillian Anderson's West End debut has been much-anticipated after the end of the long-running cult TV series.

The list of Hollywood actors and actresses crossing the pond to appear in the West End smacks of attempting to add credibility to their CV - but Gillian Anderson hardly gives a career-defining performance on her debut.

What the Night is For is a two-hander revolving around a woman and a man, Lindy and Adam, who meet up 11 years after their extra-marital affair ended.

Here starts a lengthy and at times painfully clichéd talk about the merits of their affair and whether they can pick up where they left off.

The action takes place in Lindy's hotel room, on the pretence she is waiting for a telephone call, so already there is little doubt they will fall into bed before the evening is through.

Rendezvous

Lindy is a special needs teacher and mother of two, whose husband is a well-connected, yet failed, businessman running for senate. Adam is a successful architect.

The pair's illicit affair ended when Lindy and her family relocated, without a word to Adam.

Anderson plays the first half with an affected embarrassment at their rendezvous, constantly touching her face and staring downwards in an irritating girlish manner.

Lindy's mental instability soon emerges

The very English actor Roger Allam plays his Adam as a middle-aged New Yorker seeking affection, something his hard-bitten wife cannot give.

But there is little chemistry between Allam and Anderson, and their kiss, which is meant to reignite the passion, was as uncomfortable to watch as it looked for them to perform.

The audience is expected to be convinced Anderson is a middle-aged mother-of-two, past her prime.

Yet it was just a few years ago she was voted the sexiest female in a men's magazine, and at 34 she is simply stunning.

Closure

Hence the line where she tells Adam he would not want to see her in a bathing suit rings rather hollow.

The first half is slow as the pair get re-acquainted but the second half becomes more animated.

Lindy tells Adam that she orchestrated their meeting as one final fling to give them "closure", while Adam is intent on having her as his bit on the side.

But Lindy is not as mentally stable as she makes out and in the throes of a bi-polar attack she admits she wants a new husband.

Anderson's decent into manic depression is fairly convincing as she spectacularly flies off the handle, but Allam's reaction is rather wooden considering he does not yet know what is wrong with his mistress.

What follows is much hand-wringing and self-pitying nonsense which makes it difficult to feel any warmth for the characters.

A tale of love and deceit is hardly a new idea and Anderson's trumpeted arrival in the West End is less than spectacular.