Chichester Festival Theatre - REVIEW The Inquiry: political intrigue brings season to a close

For a theatre which rejoices in mercilessly pushing and prodding artistic boundaries, this final offering of the season is unashamedly really rather traditional.

The oak panelling of the set with the Royal coat of arms above is the first visible signal of a more conservative approach.

Yet this is a political drama which twists and turns with reptilian dexterity and snake-like disquiet.

The play opens in sombre mood with the Lord Chancellor, the Rt Hon Arthur Gill MP (John Heffernan) proclaiming his oath of office to defend the independence of the judiciary.

What follows is his determined efforts to do the reverse as an inquiry headed by Lady Justice Deborah Wingate (Deborah Findlay) threatens his political career and ambitions to be a future prime minister.

When the set transforms to give a glimpse of Lady Wingate’s garden it is clear that it is constructed of more than just ancient panelling; just as the plot with cunning tease carefully unpeels the private worlds and secrets of the main protagonists.

Harry Davies is an investigative reporter at The Guardian and the play was born during the darkness of the first lockdown in spring 2020 and the inevitability of a public inquiry into the government’s response.

The plot itself focuses on a very different inquiry but one, none the less, into the loss of lives and ministerial responsibility.

Inevitably, the play is more dialogue than action but it is none the poorer for it. The plot swirls with the menacing dual scent of House of Cards and the bureaucratic self-serving of Yes Prime Minister – albeit without the humour.

The critical question for the audience is will the inquiry’s independent chair stick to her guns and publish the unvarnished truth or will the self-preservation instincts of the government establishment force her to compromise?

A true tour de force; with perfectly crafted performances from the superb Deborah Findlay and John Heffernan – and a hope that this is the first of many such scripts from Mr Davies.