A “monstrous baby whom none dared gainsay” – so writes Robert Bolt of Henry VIII in the introduction to his 1960 play. The “man for all seasons” of its title is Thomas More, presented by Bolt in just one of his aspects (– in contrast with the portrayal of More in the BBC’s adaptation of Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall trilogy: “a hero of selfhood”, one who did gainsay his king.
As in Shakespeare, this is not so much a history as a morality play, substituting real people for allegorical abstractions to add layers of complexity and ambiguity. For this reason it seems to me a shame that Simon Higlett’s design fastens the action to its time, giving us a magnificent, Tudor-style, panelled-wood set and dressing actors in period costumes. These particularities mask the fact that the focus of the drama is a dilemma not defined by time or place: what course of action is open to an individual who believes in the law when their head of state defies the law?
