Nesbitt returned to theatre acting in June 2005 when he appeared in David Nicholls' "After Sun", a ten-minute-play performed as part of the Old Vic's 24-Hour Play season. Nesbitt and Catherine Tate starred as a married couple who meet a pair of newlyweds returning from their honeymoon. Later that year, he appeared in his first full-length play in 11 years, in Owen McCafferty's "Shoot the Crow". He enjoyed the stimulation of learning his lines and rehearsing with the cast and director. The play opened at the Trafalgar Studios in September 2005 and his role as Socrates gained mixed reviews. In "The Independent", Michael Coveney suggested the role did not fit the actor: "Nesbitt is cool. But I never felt that he was inside his role of a chap called Socrates [...] He grinned and shrugged through the evening which steadily became less about grouting on tiles and more about grating on nerves." In "The Daily Telegraph", Charles Spencer described Nesbitt's acting as "outstanding".