The Audience review: Kristin Scott Thomas is a powerful Queen despite nerves

Taking over a role that has become synonymous with another actor is surely a tough challenge, but Kristin Scott Thomas has just about passed the test.

After Dame Helen Mirren's award-winning performance in London and New York, Scott Thomas began her portrayal of The Queen in Peter Morgan's slightly updated version of The Audience last night (May 5), and despite some nervy moments, she managed to win over her royal subjects.

The Audience cleverly uses The Queen's weekly meetings with her 12 Prime Ministers as a way of signposting her long reign, documenting the many changes in UK culture and overseas conflicts along the way.

Morgan's play paints The Queen as having quite a sad life, using memories of her young self to show how the unexpected burden of monarchy has made her bemoan her "unlived life".

The main attraction is seeing a selection of the many Prime Ministers she has spoken with over the decades from Churchill to Cameron. Not every PM is featured, and it is a shame that Tony Blair only appears briefly, but Morgan has already tackled the former Labour leader several times, so that's understandable.

Michael Gould's John Major is depicted as ordinary but with moments of bravery and humour that are often not attributed to him, while Gordon Kennedy's Gordon Brown is angry and almost depressed - and is still overshadowed by Blair when he appears via flashback.

David Calder is excellent as a father-like Sir Winston Churchill, The Queen's first PM and the first to guide her way. David Robb plays the disgraced Anthony Eden with the right amount of sadness and regret, while Sylvestra Le Touzel is perfect as Margaret Thatcher, it's just a shame she is only handed one scene.

Mark Dexter channels Rik Mayall as he manages to capture the schoolboy quality of David Cameron brilliantly, and the play is brought up to date as it is assumed that it is their last meeting before the 2015 General Election. There is even room for a quip about Ed Miliband ("Is it Cain or Abel?").

Best of all is Nicholas Woodeson as Harold Wilson, The Queen's apparent favourite PM. Woodeson plays Wilson as a Del Boy-like figure, who helps bring Her Majesty back down to Earth. The fact that the play manages to produce a lump in your throat about Harold Wilson shows that the writing and performances are pretty powerful.

In fact, it could be said that The Audience is not just about The Queen and her PMs, but the journey of a long life and having to perform one's duty. Each character is shown to have some form of regret or grievance, showing that whether you've sought power or have been handed it, neither necessarily offer pure happiness.

Scott Thomas has a powerful stage presence, and she looks perfect as the different ages of the Queen. She plays the role with a mixture of stern playfulness, almost behaving like Maggie Smith's Downton Abbey Dowager.

However, there were a few moments where she stuttered her lines and even called John Major "Mr Brown". Hopefully on another night she will perform with fewer nerves, as otherwise it was a well-structured, moving and historically significant production.

4