Wolf Hall: Parts 1 & 2 are adapted by Mike Poulton from Hilary Mantel's double Man Booker Prize winning novels, Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies (published Henry Holt in the U.S.). The plays are based on the deceit, betrayal, and intrigue of the court of Henry VIII. The production features a company of more than twenty actors, headed by Ben Miles as Thomas Cromwell, Lydia Leonard as Anne Boleyn, and Nathaniel Parker as King Henry VIII, all under the direction of Olivier Award nominee Jeremy Herrin, who makes his New York City directing debut. The Royal Shakespeare Company is appearing with the permission of Actors' Equity Association.
Already a hit in London, where it transferred to the West End after bowing to much acclaim at the RSC's home base in Stratford, the production is a mighty undertaking. It's directed by Jeremy Herrin with propulsive energy; designed with commanding stagecraft by Christopher Oram and a superb team on lighting, music and sound; and performed with authority and an abundance of sly humor by a first-rate troupe of 23. If the play's two parts ultimately prove uneven -- with the vigorous, bold-strokes storytelling of Part One giving way to uneven pacing and a nagging shortage of social and political context in Part Two -- that could have something to do with the giant spoiler that even the most distracted history student knows: Anne Boleyn loses her head. As admirable as the production is, it can't compare with the exhilarating vibrancy and theatrical originality of last season's British double-bill, Twelfth Night and Richard III. But while it might fall short of the pantheon of all-time great stage events, Wolf Hall is nonetheless an impressive feat, a compelling drama played out across the canvas of a nation soaked in rain and mud and blood.
The subject matter is hardly dull or arcane...At issue, often, is how intrinsically dramatic a character this Cromwell is. Ben Miles provides a suitably thoughtful, nuanced central performance as a man who can be a ruthless enforcer but is not without his own principles...But Cromwell is not, in these plays, allowed any moment of real revelation or release. The flickers of anger, regret and exhaustion that poke through his pragmatic efficiency are not enough to make him a compelling central figure. Other characters allow for more heightened emotional expression. As Katherine of Aragon, Henry's first queen, the excellent Lucy Briers is at once fierce and palpably wounded -- a worthy rival to Lydia Leonard's haughty, saucy Anne, and to the charismatic Henry of Nathaniel Parker, who deftly avoids caricature. The supple performances provided by these and other cast members cannot, however, compensate for plays that impress but don't transport us.
Videos