David Soul, who played a cop on TV's popular series "Starsky & Hutch," has resurfaced in -- of all things -- a black comedy in Hampstead, England.

The Dead Monkey, by Nick Darke, is about a man named Hank (Soul) who goes surfing with a monkey -- a real one -- on his back. When the monkey dies, his put-upon wife (Alexa Hamilton) is pleased that she will no longer have to clean up after the simian. But Hank is inconsolable and does what any passionately grieving survivor would do -- he gets a Macedonian curly pig (who also meets an unpleasant fate).

"Soul gives a subtly blended performance, half-likable, half-monstrous: towards the end, you notice that his bearing becomes a little like that of a lumbering ape," wrote the London Times of the actor's performance.

Soul has been seen in other UK productions, including the long-running West End musical Blood Brothers (he played the Narrator).

For tickets to The Dead Monkey, which runs at the New End Theatre through Mar. 29, call 011-44-1-71-794-0022. -- By Rebecca Paller