Photo Flash: First Look at Opening Night of RSC's WOLF HALL and BRING UP THE BODIES in the West End

On Saturday 17th May, Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies celebrated their opening night at the Aldwych Theatre, London WC2. After the performance, creative team, cast and guests headed to The Royal Horseguards in Whitehall for a party. Check out the photos below!

Following a sell-out run at the RSC's Swan Theatre, Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies open at the Aldwych Theatre. This is the first time Hilary Mantel's enormously popular books have been adapted for the stage. Adapted by Mike Poulton and directed by Jeremy Herrin, the two plays tell the compelling story of the political rise to power of Thomas Cromwell from blacksmith's boy to Henry VIII's right hand man.

The West End company includes Ben Miles as Cromwell, Nathaniel Parker as Henry VIII, Lydia Leonard as Anne Boleyn, Paul Jesson as Cardinal Wolsey and Lucy Briers as Katherine of Aragon.

Wolf Hall won the Man Booker in 2009, and Bring Up the Bodies won in 2012, making Hilary Mantel the first woman ever to have received the award twice, and the first person to win the prize for two consecutive novels of the same series. She achieved another first recently when Bring Up the Bodies also won the Costa Novel Award, the first time the same novel has won both this and the Man Booker.

Websites: www.WolfHall.co.uk and www.BringUpTheBodies.co.uk

Performance Times: Monday to Saturday evenings 7.30pm. Wednesday and Saturday matinees 2pm
Running Times: Wolf Hall 2 hours 50 minutes, Bring Up the Bodies 2 hours 50 minutes