MAYBE due to my having been brought up as a Roman Catholic, the announcement in February 2013 that the Pope was retiring caught my attention perhaps more than most casual news-surfers.

The last time there had been a resignation from this loftiest of religious positions was in 1415. But that’s another story – and one which I hope filmmakers will make a movie of one day. It might have to be a miniseries though, as that Medieval papal schism was really complicated.

Review: Is it any good? Our verdict on The Two Popes on stage...

Netflix, however did make a very successful movie inspired by a stage play of the more recent events.

The Two Popes (both the screen and stage versions) is written by Anthony McCarten. A writer with a stellar track record for telling great stories – Bohemian Rhapsody and The Theory of Everything to name but two.

Oxford Mail: The Two Popes Anton-Lesser--Nicholas-Woodeson-photo-by-Manuel-Harlan

The Two Popes. Picture by Manuel Harlan

It is set in the Vatican, where troubled Pontiff Benedict XVI summons Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio from South America to a meeting.

The Cardinal also has his own concerns, however, and this play explores problems at the heart of the modern day church. It is certainly meaty subject matter, but McCarten’s genius is that he tells this story in a very human and often witty way.

The big-name casting of Anton Lesser as the outgoing Pope is very exciting.

Perhaps most familiar to us locally as Chief Superintendent Richard Bright of Oxford’s Cowley Police Station in Endeavour, Lesser has been on our stages and screens for a long and successful career spanning 4 decades.

Always worth watching in whatever role – from Harold Macmillan in The Crown to Qyburn in Game of Thrones – it will be very interesting to compare his portrayal of Pope Benedict to that of Sir Thomas More in Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall.

Oxford Mail: The Two Popes - Lynsey-Beauchamp-_-Anton-Lesser-Photo-by-Manuel-Harlan

The Two Popes. Picture by Manuel Harlan

Nicholas Wodeson is also a familiar face from high-quality theatre productions, such as his acclaimed performance as William Loman in Death of a Salesman. No stranger to screens big and small, Wodeson appeared recently in the BBC’s Baptiste, and the movie comedy The Death of Stalin.

This high quality production, directed James Dacre, is at the Oxford Playhouse until Saturday, October 22. Definitely one not to miss.

Tickets from oxfordplayhouse.com