REVIEW: The Other Boleyn Girl - a stunning start to new era at Chichester Festival Theatre

The Justin Audibert era at Chichester Festival Theatre is going to be a thrilling ride if tonight’s first instalment is anything to go by.

New artistic director Audibert promised high-impact drama on an epic scale on the main-house stage. And that’s exactly what The Other Boleyn Girl serves up, an outstanding piece of drama brilliantly delivered.

Chris Davey’s lighting is just perfect for Mike Poulton’s stage adaptation of Philippa Gregory’s plunge into the brutal, half-lit high-stakes world of the Tudor court. Joanna Parker’s set design in its forbidding simplicity makes everything possible; sumptuous costumes, music and dance then bring the world to life. But it’s the quality of the acting that makes it all soar.

You always feel that the best acting is something you probably oughtn’t to notice – but this is so special that you absolutely do, particularly in the clash of the contrasting sisters, the Boleyn girls at the heart of it all – the one, Anne, and we all know what happened to her; the other, the other Boleyn girl of the title, the completely obscure Mary, reimagined from precious little evidence through Gregory’s novel.

Freya Mavor is Anne; Lucy Phelps is Mary; and there is a quite spine-tingling scene in the second half as we see the sheer closeness of love and enmity, of tenderness and antagonism, all underlining the absolute power of the bond between them no matter how different they are.

The point is that Mary, reluctantly the King’s mistress, wants nothing more than a simple life and a good husband who loves her. Anne is intent on so much more. Adding to the mix is the third sibling George, somewhere between the two and beautifully played by James Corrigan – the same soul divided into three clashing but adoring people, each variously playing and trying not to play the power game. “Terrible people, aren’t we” George quips. And yes, Anne and George are - but maybe necessarily so and utterly plausible in the world they are caught up in. It’s only Mary who sees beyond it. It’s the most complex triangle teased out through three scintillating performances of the highest class.

Mavor’s Anne wins the King by standing up to him, but as Anne showed herself, it’s only a matter of time before she too is cast aside. The first half is a slow-burner. The second brings out the threat. The noose tightens… or rather the block inches closer. Meanwhile for Mary happiness is within reach.

Director Lucy Bailey shows the surest touch amid the mounting tension – though maybe just possibly the whole thing could have lost ten minutes or so somewhere down the line. But that’s a minor quibble on a night which promised so much and gave so much. I can’t remember the last time there was so much chatter around the first play of the season. Expectation was high. It has been amply rewarded. You sense a stunning summer ahead.

Excellent too from Alex Kingston as Lady Elizabeth and Andrew Woodall as the Duke of Norfolk.