Rupert Everett is the big name to fill the new seats as Chichester Festival Theatre celebrates its £22 million refurbishment. He takes the lead in a 50th anniversary production of Peter Shaffer's twisted, captivating drama, Amadeus.

  It is pint-size potty mouth Joshua McGuire as Mozart, however, who just about steals the show from Everett's seething, demonic monster, Salieri. McGuire is a whining comic prodigy with blond curls and a puck face. With his creative zeal and magnetism, he is the perfect foil to Everett’s smooth, monologue-like delivery.

  Everett is excellent and oozes authority. He channels Blackadder and Sherlock Holmes as an overcoat-wearing shadow-creeper picking through the clues of Mozart's death. He effortlessly twists from withered, storytelling pensioner to ambitious court musician, who is both victim and villain, as he acts out his part in the maestro's demise in 1870s Vienna.

  Salieri might not be able to square himself with God's unjust decision making, but Jonathan Church's lavish production has no such problem in its mission. Grand and ambitious without over egging it, the show makes use of the theatre's new capabilities: a higher rake helps the venue feel more intimate while Simon Higlett’s baroque setting and Tim Mitchell’s well-judged lighting produce a worthy opening to the revamped theatre.

*Read more about the revamped theatre in The Guide on Friday.