Helen Mirren’s Oscar-winning performance as Queen Elizabeth in the 2006 movie The Queen made her an obvious choice to tackle the same role in the West End play The Audience. The play opened last night (March 5, 2013) at London’s Gielgud Theatre, where it will run until June 15.

The debut performance was attended by such luminaries as Sir David Frost, David Milliband, Tom Hooper, Sheila Hancock and Gemma Arterton, the BBC reports.

The Audience, directed by Stephen Daldry and written by Peter Morgan (who also wrote the screenplay for The Queen), imagines a number of private meetings between Queen Elizabeth II and the various prime ministers that have been in office during her 60 year reign.

Also starring in the play are Rufus Wright, Haydn Gwynne, Edward Fox and Richard McCabe. In addition to the strong cast, anyone attending the play can also look forward to some exciting “scene-stealing” appearances from real-life Corgis, as well.

Helen Mirren

Helen Mirren wows audience in The Audience

Reviews for the show have been adulatory, thus far. A five-star review from the Daily Telegraph reads “In this marvellous piece, with Helen Mirren once again giving a magnificent performance as the Queen, [Morgan] penetrates at least some of her mystery, with compassion, grace, affection and humour. “ The Independent focused on Helen Mirren’s performance, writing that she “rises to the daunting technical challenge with a quite uncannily fluid lightness of touch as she shifts back and forth on an age-spectrum of six decades.”