End Of The Rainbow **** TNT

The legendary Judy Garland married five times, made several suicide attempts and never cracked the pill-popping habit encouraged by the film studios in her early years as a child actor.

Peter Quilter’s play (which premiered in Sydney in 2005) shows her ensconced in a luxurious hotel during a season at London’s Talk of the Town, just months before a fatal overdose in 1969.

It’s scant on biographical detail, but that hardly matters. Hilton McRae is quietly devoted as her gay pianist who instantly disapproves of her toyboy fiancé manager, and Tracie Bennett is simply sensational.

She gives what must surely be an award-winning performance as the troubled, insecure star, delivering barbed dialogue and musical numbers with unforgettable emotional power – desperate for drugs, drink and reassurance in (almost) equal measure.

Trafalgar Studios, SW1 (Tube: Charing Cross) endoftherainbow.com Until March 5 £25