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Theatre

Wolf Hall & Bring up the Bodies, Aldwych Theatre

01 May 14 – 04 Oct 14, 7:30 PM – 11:30 PM

Hilary Mantel's Booker-winning novels transfer to the West End with the Royal Shakespeare Company...

By CW Contributor on 6/3/2014

1 CW reader is interested
Ben Miles as Thomas Cromwell and Lydia Leonard as Anne Boleyn in Wolf Hall Photo: Alastair Muir
Ben Miles as Thomas Cromwell and Lydia Leonard as Anne Boleyn in Wolf Hall Photo: Alastair Muir
Wolf Hall & Bring up the Bodies, Aldwych Theatre Wolf Hall & Bring up the Bodies, Aldwych Theatre Rosemary Baker
How often do you get to see a Tudor double bill, a theatrical mini-cycle, which is guaranteed to be outstanding? The stage adaptation of Hilary Mantel's Booker Prize-winning novels,  Wolf Hall and its sequel  Bring Up the Bodies, provides just that. After a sell-out run at Stratford-upon-Avon, the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) production is transferring to the West End in May.
The drama focuses on the story of Thomas Cromwell, played by Ben Miles, and the court of Henry VIII, played by Nathaniel Parker. Wolf Hall covers a longer period (1527-1535) and charts Cromwell's rise from Putney blacksmith's son to high office, while Bring Up the Bodies is set in a single year (1535) and focuses on Anne Boleyn's demise. The narrative is told largely through the eyes of Cromwell.
The novels have been adapted by Tony Award-winning Mike Poulton, in close collaboration with Mantel herself. Jeremy Herrin, artistic director of Headlong Theatre company, stays at the helm in the Aldwych shows, along with his Stratford cast. 
The vacancy at the Aldwych - the RSC’s historic London home - has arisen as a result of the truncated run of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Profumo Affair-based musical  Stephen Ward , which is closing after just four months due to disappointing sales and tepid reviews.
The West End run of the Mantel adaptation, which ends on 6 September, coincides with the filming of the Wolf Hall TV series, in which Mark Rylance will play Cromwell. Screenwriter Peter Straughan, who won a BAFTA award for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy , is behind this six-parter for BBC2. 
Lastly, there's the final instalment of the Cromwell trilogy to look forward to. We'll have to wait a while for Mantel to finish the third novel, which will complete the saga, but this exciting West End transfer means there's plenty of Mantelmania to keep us going 'til then.

What Wolf Hall & Bring up the Bodies, Aldwych Theatre
Where Aldwych Theatre, 49 Aldwych, London, WC2B 4DF | MAP
Nearest tube Charing Cross (underground)
When 01 May 14 – 04 Oct 14, 7:30 PM – 11:30 PM
Price £11-92.50
Website Click here to book via the Aldwych Theatre



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A little more...

  • Culture Whisper says...

    "Mike Poulton, guided by Hilary Mantel, has achieved what seemed an impossibility: to communicate the pregnant atmosphere – the implicitness - of Mantel’s novels successfully on stage. It could have been a disaster, but the RSC production triumphs at every turn. Not only is the inspired playtext an exercise in sensitivity and judiciousness, but the performances are utterly alive and the set perfectly captures the high-ceilinged, sun-slanted Tudor halls in which these politics, loves and losses played out. Mantel was there (as well as Helen Mirren!) and she attends, apparently, most performances. Surely there is no better commendation than that".

    DOUBLE BILL

    The two plays, which each last three hours, are being staged concurrently, as they were at The Swan Theatre in Stratford. On most matinee days they are performed one after the other (at 2pm and 7.30pm), making it possible to see them back-to-back with an early supper in the 'interval'. The six-hour double bill is 'an occasionally exhausting but mostly exhilarating experience,' according to The Guardian's Michael Billington . If you prefer to pace yourself, you could choose different dates. Or, if you are feeling cautious, start with Wolf Hall, but don't be surprised if Bring up the Bodies sells out as it did at Stratford.

    MANTEL ON THE ADAPTATION 

    'I've had the privilege of being deeply involved in the evolution and the progression of the shows...It has been probably the most exhilarating six months of my writing career and the one in which I’ve learnt the most and had the most fun.'

    Hilary Mantel in the Independent

    What the critics say...

    THE GUARDIAN

    'The success lies in the fact that we feel this is both a piece of living history and a guide to the early modern world. These plays are about class, passion, conscience, religious freedom and the danger of living in a society where power goes unchecked. And, while they can't precisely reproduce the dream-like richness of Mantel's prose, they show that novels can sometimes be made into very good plays.' 

    Michael Billington

    THE TELEGRAPH

    'Jeremy Herrin’s fleet staging, with gorgeous costumes and a raft of strong supporting performances grips almost throughout, and the destruction of Anne Boleyn and her supposed lovers in the second play proves splendidly dark and gripping... At best splendidly entertaining and at times deeply touching.'

    Charles Spencer

    In the area

    The Opera Tavern

    Walk just a few steps up Catherine Street to the Opera Tavern. With a beautifully crafted seasonal menu  that sources its meat from small, free-range organic farms in England and Wales, you can have a high quality meal of small plates without breaking the bank. 

    Sit downstairs if you want to see your Spanish and Italian inspired tapas sizzle on a charcoal grill.  Book in advance to avoid disappointment.  

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