THE last time I flipped a coin it was to see if my friend and I would go for fish and chips or a curry.

The first thing you see when the outstanding play, Mary Stuart, begins is another coin toss, though this time the stakes are a bit higher.

This will decide if Juliet Stevenson or Lia Williams will play either Queen Elizabeth I or Mary Queen of Scots that evening - this time Stevenson played Elizabeth and Williams played Mary. 

The fact that both of these incredibly gifted actresses know both characters back to front and switch roles from one night to the next, blew me away.

Coins aside, Friedrich Schiller’s drama about how the Protestant Elizabeth imprisons her Catholic cousin for allegedly plotting to bring her down, is a masterpiece.

When Stevenson and Williams came face to face in the play, I felt like I was watching Al Pacino and Robert De Niro try to out-act each other in the thriller Heat.

Unlike in Peep Show where Mark and Jeremy wish they were watching Heat, because the am-dram they are watching is so awful, I felt privileged to watch this triumph in theatre.

Having heard such great views about its West End tour, I thought the start was a tad lukewarm.

But as the play went on, it just got, to quote legendary football commentator John Motson, “better and better and better and better.”

The play is based on real historical figures and events, with a fair amount of creative license thrown in, and it is just so compelling.

Conflict and guilt continuously gnaws away at Elizabeth about whether or not she should sign the death warrant for Mary, whilst her sycophantic and Machiavellian advisors jostle with one another, to spin a situation that works out well for them.

That, coupled with the hostilities between those of opposing faiths and accusations and counter accusations, this is a play, which has a terrific ensemble cast (all of which wear modern day suits), that you really must see.

I would happily see this again, especially to see the two queens switch roles, as I would love to see the subtle differences each actress brings to the role.

If anyone was wondering, they probably weren’t but I will say anyway, my mate and I went for fish and chips after the coin toss.

Mary Stuart is on at Bath Theatre Royal until April 14.