Wolf Hall, Parts One & Two
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Cititour.com Review
“The Six Wives of Henry VIII,” “Anne of a Thousand Days,” “A Man for All Seasons,” “The Tudors.” Just when you thought the story of King Henry VIII’s ill-fated marriage to Anne Boleyn (which also led to England’s break with Rome and the creation of the Anglican church) had no more ways in which to be told, Dame Hilary Mantel broke through with her “Wolf Hall” series of books, in which the oft-told-tale’s protagonist suddenly became Henry’s Master Secretary Thomas Cromwell.
As innovative as that may seem to some, and as much as those books have garnered millions of fans and a couple of major literary prizes, I fear that the Royal Shakespeare’s Company’s “Wolf Hall, Parts One & Two,” now at the Winter Garden Theatre, isn’t really worth six hours of your time and the hundreds of dollars it takes to watch it. Ultimately, all we really get is just the same-old, same-old story dressed up in slightly different clothing. (Indeed, Christopher Oram’s costumes are much more attractive than his remarkably dreary set!)
Then again, I don’t think either Mike Poulton’s adaptation does much justice to the plot’s main characters. The seemingly indefatigable Ben Miles, on stage for practically every moment, gives a remarkably sly performance as Cromwell, but we never really understand why this whip-smart lawyer tries so hard to ensure that the mercurial Henry (the sublime Nathaniel Parker, in the evening’s most memorable turn) gets anything and everything he wants.
Before Henry’s machinations are set in motion, he’s plenty rich, so he isn’t working hard for the money. And even though he’s regarded as “the butcher’s boy” by the upper-crust, revenge and power don’t seem to be his prime motivations. True, there’s the question of mere survival in an era when beheadings and torture are an everyday occurrence. Still, It’s hard to be sure whether what we’re dealing with in Cromwell’s psyche is complexity or simplicity.
And what are we to make of Anne? In Lydia Leonard’s consistently fierce (yet often grating) portrayal, she initially seems crafty -- refusing, unlike her sister, to sleep with Henry until he promises to leave his wife and marry her. Ultimately, though Anne comes off as shockingly rhymes-with-witchy! She’s an unrepentant adulteress, a cruel mistress to her staff, and, as Cromwell proves, not nearly as smart as she thinks she is. Indeed, none of the main women come off all that well. Henry’s first wife, the decidedly wronged Katherine of Aragon (a very fine Lucy Briers) is so pious that she’s practically insufferable, while wife-to-be Jane Seymour (Leah Brotherhead) just seems like a ditz. I’m half-surprised NOW isn’t picketing the Winter Garden.
Luckily, Paul Jesson provides some much-need color (figuratively and literally) as Henry’s once-trusted adviser Cardinal Wosley, and there are also some fine turns from Edward Harrison as Anne’s slimy brother, George; Nicholas Shaw as Anne’s “first love” Harry Percy; and Joey Batey as Mark Smeaton, a pretty-boy musician who becomes one of Anne’s many lovers.
Still, even counting these good performances, there’s something undeniably flat about these proceedings, helped little by Jeremy Herrin’s rather unimaginative staging. I do suspect that at half the length, “Wolf Hall” might be more effective, even if I doubt it would be much more emotionally affecting. But in its current form, I’d pass by this Hall and knock on another door.
By Brian Scott Lipton
Visit the Site
http://wolfhallbroadway.com
Cast
Joey Batey, Nicholas Boulton, Lucy Briers, Leah Brotherhead, Olivia Darnley, Nicholas Day, Mathew Foster, Daniel Fraser, Edward Harrison, Benedict Hastings, Madeleine Hyland, Paul Jesson, Lydia Leonard, Robert MacPherson, Ben Miles, Pierro Niel-Mee, Nathaniel Parker, Matthew Pidgeon, John Ramm, Nicholas Shaw, Joshua Silver, Giles Taylor, Jay Taylor
Open/Close Dates
Opening 4/9/2015
Closing 7/5/2015
Preview Open/ Preview Close Dates
Preview Opening 3/20/2015
Closing Open-ended
Box Office
212-239-6200
Theatre Info
Winter Garden Theatre
1634 Broadway
New York, NY 10019
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