REVIEW: The King’s Speech – at the Festival Theatre, Malvern, from Monday, April 27 until Saturday, May 2, 2015.

IT’S quite the norm to see a stage play before it moves onto the big screen, but in this case it had to be the other way round... film first, stage second, and that can lead - on occasions - to some unfair criticisms.

Films, although they may at times disappoint, can deliver so much more through the use of different locations, camera angles and tidying up with extra takes which would deem it unfair to draw parallels with a stage production that survives or dies by each live performance. But here there’s absolutely no way for any such concerns to surface over this splendid revival which is full of warmth and good humour.

The King’s Speech is a fascinating tale that was made into a hugely successful film and so too is this stage tour - with both versions able to stand proudly shoulder to shoulder.

Having seen the film first probably helps as you can visualise the scenes to coincide with stage events, but no imagination is needed at all to laud the performances of several members of the cast.

Jason Donovan is a revelation, a real triumph, as the no-nonsense Aussie speech therapist Lionel Logue, while there were also riveting regal performances from stage and screen star Raymond Coulthard, as the vulnerable Bertie, and Claire Lams, whose portrayal of Elizabeth, the mother of our current Queen, was virtually spot on.

Coulthard gave us a vulnerable yet resolute Bertie, the future King George VI on the eve of World War II, who we could both admire and sympathise with as he struggled, with Logue’s help, to overcome the stammer and nervous tics which had resulted from a bullying family.

Clearly crippled with nerves and angrily frustrated as he struggles to speak clearly, his wife Elizabeth searches the small ads for salvation and finds Logue, a colonial with little time for protocol - Royal or otherwise – who forges an unlikely friendship with the man destined to head the family business when his brother opts for life with Wallis Simpson and abdicates.

Powerful performances from both while there’s fine support from Katy Stephen’s as Logue’s upperty but likeable wife Myrtle, along with the enjoyable dry humour of the unlikely double act from Nicholas Blane, as Winston Churchill, and Martin Turner’s Archbishop of Canterbury, Cosmo Lang.

But it’s Donovan who really holds court. Forget the days of Neighbours, pop songs and star of musicals, for here is someone who now has all the hallmarks of a quality character actor.

Roxana Silbert’s astute directing ensures a well paced performance, drawing on the strengths of the story and cast, while Tom Piper’s simple yet functional set does all that it needs to. He uses a curved, somewhat spartan sound studio and imaginatively transforms it, using minimal props, into Westminster Cathedral, Balmoral and Logue’s somewhat shabby home.

No stuttering performances here and no wonder many of the audience were on their feet to salute a King’s compelling and perfectly delivered speech.