Robert Tanitch reviews Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies at Aldwych Theatre, London, WC2
Court intrigue, sex and politics, who is in, who is out, who will be the next to lose his head, these things have long been the staple diet of theatre. English history plays were extremely popular in the 1930’s. Nowadays they are most likely to be found on television.
Hilary Mantel’s multi-awarding-winning novels, Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies, have been dramatised by Mike Poulton for the Royal Shakespeare Company and he has made them into two fine costume dramas which should draw the town.
Thomas Cromwell (1485-1540), mercenary, banker, reformer and arch fixer, has appeared on stage in plays by Shakespeare, Maxwell Anderson and Robert Bolt. But this is the first time he has taken centre stage.
Son of a blacksmith, and born in Putney, Cromwell was one of the most powerful men in Tudor England, holding many offices. He was King Henry VIII’s chief minister and closest advisor from 1532-1549 and was responsible for the legislation that made Henry head of the English church.
Wolf Hall covers the period 1527-1535 and Wolsey’s failure to secure the annulment of the king’s marriage to Katherine of Aragon, which led to England’s break with the Pope and the Catholic Church.
Bring Up the Bodies covers just one year, 1535, and traces the fall and execution of Anne Boleyn in which Cromwell played a prominent role, ruthlessly, forcing people to give false confessions.
Ben Miles, who plays Cromwell, is far more handsome than Holbein’s portrait of the real Cromwell. Shrewd, intelligent, cold and unemotional, Miles’s steely performance holds the double-bill together.
Jeremy Herrin’s fluid, fast-paced and gripping production, acted by a fine ensemble, is always crystal clear. The dialogue is sharp and witty and there are lots of laughs.
Paul Jesson’s Wolsey, a corrupt, corpulent butcher boy in scarlet, is surprisingly likeable. Nathaniel Parker is the virile king, a man with a troubled conscience, who fails to produce a male heir; he naturally blames his wives.
Lydia Leonard’s portrayal of Anne Boleyn is so unpleasant and volatile that nobody will care for her fate and whether the reports of her numerous adultery and incest are lies or truth. Lucy Brier is a formidable and regal Katharine of Aragon. The most interesting thing about Leah Brotherhead’s Jane Seymour is the voice she adopts to play her.
The RSC is back at the Aldwych Theatre, its former London base, after a long absence, which is good news. If you see one play you will most certainly want to see both. Wolf Hall is the one to see first. You can see both plays together every Wednesday and every Saturday, matinee and evening. Each play lasts 2 hours 50 minutes including interval.
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