Review: The King's Speech - Leeds Grand Theatre

Having never seen the film version of The King's Speech I arrived at the theatre with no pre-conceived ideas

The story is set around the outbreak of World War 2; Edward VIII sparks controversy with his love for married socialite Wallis Simpson. As Edward's position becomes untenable, his brother Bertie is thrust into the limelight.

Bertie though has a bad stammer and shies away from the limelight. There is however hope for Bertie as he meets speech therapist Lionel Logue.

The stage set is minimal and the BBC recording studio bears the. backdrop for most of the performance with some clever interchanges of scenery. There are plenty of opening invisible doors that pop open with actors behind them, throughout the performance.

Jason Donovan plays speech therapist Lionel Logue with a cheeky and affable presence, he is a versatile actor having starred in Sweeny Todd and Priscilla Queen of the Desert, though when he tries to cure Bertie's (Raymond Coulthard) stammer by singing over a record, you half expect Donovan to break into his big hit Too Many Broken Hearts!

Raymond Coulthard portrays the frustration Bertie has with his stammer and along with Donovan they both have some witty lines and there is a genuine rapport between the two.

Claire Lams as Queen Elizabeth also has some great one liners that had the audience in stitches. Martin Turner as Archbishop Cosmo Lang plays a convincing and thoughtful Archbishop, whilst Nicholas Blane puts in a fine performance as Winston Churchill.

There are some memorable scenes such as when Bertie and Lionel dance in unison during one of their speech therapy sessions with the pair getting carried away.

I thoroughly enjoyed this version and found it living up to its royal regal status.

Runs until Saturday 30 May, 2015