He entered the theatre, he said, feeling nervous, "as if a relative or a close friend were about to do something foolish in public".First staged in 1997, the play, by Richard Greenberg, is not without its demands. At least, not when her audience is a flesh-and-bone one, rather than a sympathetic lens.A few, notably Ben Brantley in The New York Times - the critic who matters the most when it comes to productions on Broadway - appeared almost reluctant to admit their disappointment Brantley, indeed, confessed to being a "Juliaholic". The show, The Boston Globe tartly added, was also: "One hundred and fifty minutes of tedium".

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The startling conclusion of most of the critics seems to be that the Oscar-winning actress who can command $20m for a role in Hollywood actually can't act very well at all. With a few exceptions, the arbiters of American stagecraft have given Roberts reason to make her first foray onto the boards also her last.

Adoring fans of the "Pretty Woman" - and there are armies of them outside the Bernard Jacobs Theatre every night - may not want to read on. Yes, the reigning queen of the silver screen has made her stage debut in New York and - at last - the reviews are in. The play is called Three Days of Rain, but, as the theatre critic for The Boston Globe put it, the production on Broadway should really be called "Two and a half hours of Julia Roberts". Mr Alsamari, one US blog said, was chosen because of his time in the Iraqi army - although Zacarias Moussaoui, who is on trial in the US for allegedly being part of the hijacking team, is French of Moroccan descent while most of the others who took part in the hijackings were Saudi Arabian.. JJ Johnson who plays the captain of Flight 93 is a real United pilot, while some of his crew are genuine flight attendants.

One Manhattan cinema even decided to pull it from the screens after complaints.Universal Pictures insisted it had the approval of every victim's family and planned to donate 10 per cent of its takings on the opening weekend to the Flight 93 National Memorial Fund.The actors have been selected because of their real life experience. We encourage applicants to make arrangements to apply for visas well in advance of their travel dates."The explicit film, which claims to be a meticulous reconstruction of events, has already ignited an emotional debate throughout the United States.When shown in New York, the trailers were greeted with tears from some and fury from others. We will work with Mr Alsamari so that he can present a visa application at the embassy as soon as possible. After living in Newcastle and Manchester, he settled in London and worked on his acting career, earning parts in the television shows Spooks and Crossroads.Eventually he was awarded a starring role in British director Paul Greengrass's film about the al'Qa'ida-led plane hijackings.He has previously been allowed into New York during location filming but he explained - unlike his fellow actors - he was only granted a single entry visa.He said: "I hope that I am not going to have to wait until the film comes out in Britain to watch United 93."Yesterday, a spokeswoman for the American Embassy said the actor had not been denied a visa, simply not applied for one yet."Mr Alsamari has received visas in the past but we only became aware of his intent to travel to the United States again very recently. The passengers fought back against the hijackers as the plane headed towards the Capitol Building in Washington, but all perished when it crashed in rural Pennsylvania.The actor said he was hoping the embassy would be able to expedite his application for a visa, adding: "I was born in Iraq but have lived in Britain since 1995 and am about to apply for British citizenship."Mr Alsamari said that he escaped the Iraqi army under fire in 1993 and fled across the Jordanian border, where he remained for 18 months before coming to the UK. Applications from Iraqis go through Washington and, therefore, must be made well in advance.