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.
Part deep-dive into Tudor-era historical fiction and part endurance contest, 'Wolf Hall' has settled into the vast Winter Garden Theatre...Even if you walk in with ample historical context about Henry VIII's volatile court, the story demands intense focus to keep pace...Indeed, the focus of 'Wolf Hall' is on Cromwell...and how he comes to earn the king's trust as others around him are losing their jobs, or heads...In a complex portrayal, Miles paints Cromwell as a stable center of the universe, around whom orbits the wrathful king, his angry lovers and the opportunistic Cardinal Thomas Wolsey (Paul Jesson). The major takeaway about Cromwell? He's so cunning that he manages to hold the trust of everyone, almost all the time, over an incredible stretch of years ... at least until he betrays them.
It's amazing that a story jampacked with lust, betrayal, greed and violence can be so .?.?. dull. As well-acted, grandly staged and beautifully lit as it is, the show still manages to be tedious...Miles is onstage almost the entire time, and his portrayal is sturdy and dependable. This is the Subaru of performances: extremely reliable, but not exactly a white-knuckle ride. Mike Poulton's adaptation...doesn't give Miles' Cromwell the chance to go all-out, mostly because it consists of people relaying the very exciting business that happened offstage...Either way, the British cast is technically adept. Nathaniel Parker, looking like a sturdier Jeremy Piven, barrels through the opposition as Henry, and Paul Jesson voraciously gobbles the scenery as the deposed Cardinal Thomas Wolsey. But the most pulse-quickening scenes in this overpolite pageant belong to the women, notably Lucy Briers' Katherine, seething in a Spanish accent, and Leonard's feisty, cunning Anne.
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