BRING UP THE BODIES

TheRSC

Run Dates

2013.12.19 ~ 2014.03.29

RSC

2013.12.19 ~ 2014.03.29

Winter Garden Theatre

2013.12.19 ~ 2014.03.29

Aldwych Theatre

About the show

Anne Boleyn is now Queen, her path to Henry's side cleared by Cromwell. But Henry remains without a male heir, and the conflict with the Catholic Church has left England dangerously isolated as France and the Holy Roman Empire ominously manoeuvre for position. When the King begins to fall in love with the seemingly plain Jane Seymour, Cromwell must negotiate an increasingly dangerous court as he charms, bullies and manipulates nobility, commoners and foreign powers alike to satisfy Henry, keep the nation safe, and advance his own ambitions. Our dramatisation of Hilary Mantel's Man Booker Prize winning novels Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies played in two parts in Stratford-upon-Avon, London and New York. The two three-hour productions covered the fall of Cardinal Wolsey and the rise to power of Thomas Cromwell in the court of Henry VIII, who was desperate for a male heir. Hilary Mantel was the first author to win two Man Booker Prizes with consecutive novels. They were adapted for the stage in two parts by Mike Poulton and directed by Jeremy Herrin. After playing in the Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon the productions moved to London's Aldwych Theatre for a limited run in 2014 and then to Broadway in 2015.

Details

CAST Joey Batey – Mark Smeaton Nicholas Boulton – Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk Lucy Briers – Katherine of Aragon / Jane Boleyn, Lady Rochford Leah Brotherhead – Jane Seymour / Princess Mary / Lady Worcester Olivia Darnley – Mary Boleyn / Lizzie Wykys / Mary Shelton Nicholas Day – Thomas Howar, Duke of Norfolk Daniel Fraser – Gregory Cromwell Benedict Hastings – Bargemaster / Wolsey’s Servent / Monmouth / Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Richmond Madeleine Hyland – Lady in Waiting / Maid / Margery Seymour Joshua James – Rafe Sadler Paul Jesson – Cardinal Wolsey / Archbishop Warham / Sir John Seymour / Sir William Kingston Lydia Leonard – Anne Boleyn Ben Miles – Thomas Cromwell Pierro Niel-Mee – Christophe / Francis Weston Nathaniel Parker – King Henry VIII Oscar Pearce – George Boleyn, Lord Rochford / Edward Seymour Matthew Pidgeon – Stephen Gardiner / Eustache Chapuys John Ramm – Thomas Moore / Henry Norris Nicholas Shaw – Harry Percy / William Bereton Giles Taylor – Thomas Cranmer / Thomas Boleyn / Packington / French Ambassador Jay Taylor – Thomas Wyatt / Headsman CREATIVE TEAM Novelist – Hilary Mantel Adaptor – Mike Poulton Director – Jeremy Herrin Designer – Christopher Oram Lighting Designer – Paule Constable & David Plater Sound Designer – Nick Powell Composer – Stephen Warbeck Music Director – James Jones Voice Coach – Stephen Kemble Movement Director – Sian Williams Fight Director – Bret Young production photo Keith Pattison © RSC