Rolling Stones drugs bust play Redlands opens at Chichester Festival Theatre: 'Regional theatre at its best' | Review

It’s the curtain drawing shut on another season at the Festival Theatre.

And boy, have they saved a corker for last.

Redlands resurrects some Chichester folklore and thrusts it onto the stage: the brief moment where the eyes of the world were on the city’s law courts for the drug trial of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards from The Rolling Stones, bringing with them a media circus, frenzied fans and good old sex, drugs and rock and roll.

Stars of this calibre could afford the best lawyers – so step in Michael Havers: a future Attorney General, father of actor Nigel, and with as much in common with rock royalty as Jagger would have to a lettuce leaf.

On paper, I feared this could be self-indulgent; just because it happened on the theatre’s doorstep, does it really have enough going on to justify writing a jukebox musical?

The answer simply is: yes.

The story is as much about the trial itself as it is about Havers and his relationship with his son; the power of the tabloid press at the time; and even the double-standards faced by women.

It is also very, very funny.

I could single out every actor for praise, but the first among equals has to be Anthony Calf as the senior Havers for his Scrooge-esque transformation from boorish stuffed shirt to joyful defender of the popular arts (thanks in part to a few prescription pills rather than the magic of Christmas).

The moment where he finally tells Nigel how proud he is for pursuing his own dream of being an actor rather than following in his footsteps to take the bar put a lump in my throat.

Special mention must go to Louis Landau as Nigel and Jasper Talbot as Jagger: both making their professional debuts, the former has charm in spades and the latter electrifies in an uncanny reincarnation of the young superstar.

Similarly Clive Francis as Michael’s surprisingly liberal father Cecil Havers had the audience in stitches, and stole almost every scene he was in.

Then there’s the music.

Richards, Jagger and his then-girlfriend Marianne Faithful serve as a Greek chorus to the unfolding action – Can I Get A Witness, Mercy, Mercy and I Can’t Get No Satisfaction perfectly soundtracking the courtroom scenes – and the addition of a live band to Talbot and Brenock O’Connor’s Richards leaping about was magic.

Yes, clearly a lot of dramatic licence has been taken (did a future attorney general really give his son a spliff?) and not everything worked – the scene where Michael gets high and fantasises about Marianne felt uncomfortable to me rather than heartwarming – but by and large, this was a feel good, uplifting and humorous night which left me wanting more.

Once again the CFT reminds us what regional theatre is at its best – taking local stories from its community and spinning them into gold.

Until Friday, October 18