By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: *****

Official UK release date: 29 January 2027

The campaign for Andrew Scott – who won our Best Theatre Actor for his Hamlet almost a decade ago – to win an Oscar playing Chariots Of Fire star Ian Charleson tackling theatre’s greatest role in his last stage performance starts here.

• Read on for reasons including how amazing it is to see this a stone’s throw from where its events actually unfolded

Writer Stephen Beresford (musical Pride, which transfers to the Bridge Theatre in November) takes us to London’s National Theatre – the titular Elsinore references Hamlet’s castle but also the brutalist Southbank venue – in the 80s where Daniel Day Lewis has dropped out of Shakespeare’s most-known tragedy and Scott’s Charleson has been asked to step in.

But Charleson confides in Johnny Flynn’s (The Motive And The Cue, National Theatre) director Richard Eyre that he has AIDS and will need the support of Olivia Colman’s (Mosquitoes, National Theatre) initially disapproving doctor if he is to successfully play the part of a lifetime.

Scott (Vanya, Duke Of York’s Theatre) brought his Hamlet from the Almeida Theatre to the West End to much acclaim and is perfect casting as the closeted Charleson who is haunted by the success of his 1981 Chariots Of Fire role, choosing the secretive life of a Hollywood actor in a string of unfulfilling screen roles ahead of a theatrical career where he might have been freer to both be himself and undertake more challenging material.

Billie Piper (Yerma, Young Vic) is great fun as Charleson’s best friend and casting director Patsy Pollock who’s ready to support the actor with homecooked meals and medication when rehearsals get too tough.

Unlike Jack Thorne’s previously mentioned The Motive And The Cue at the National, which focused on Richard Burton’s Hamlet, this version quotes from the play but not to the extent its predecessor did.

Our favourite scene is a camp comedy delight featuring a disco version of Ethel Merman’s There’s No Business Like Showbusiness as Charleson literally makes a fellow patient’s – played by Joe Locke (Clarkston, Trafalgar Studios) – performing dreams come true. Monica Dolan (Mass, Donmar) is also hilarious as the tough-talking stage door manager with hidden rivers of empathy.

Elsewhere, a former love played by Bridgerton‘s Luke Thompson (A Little Life, Harold Pinter Theatre) is a stark reminder of just how fragile life with AIDS could be.

Ultimately, Elsinore is the story of the plucky underdog giving it everything they’ve got for 1 last shot at glory.

Given that Charleson did manage 24 performances as Hamlet just weeks before his death just shows what people can accomplish when they put their minds to things but also how difficult it was to be growing up gay in the 80s.

Scott deserves all the Oscar buzz his performance is winning, we’d love to see him triumph in 2027 when this film is released in the UK and it’s amazing to see it as part of the London Film Festival, a stone’s throw from where its events actually unfolded.

• Main pictures by via Facebook courtesy London Film Festival Tickets
• Have you seen an Andrew Scott film before and what did you think of it? Let us know what you thought in the comments below
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