Theatre review: A Man for All Seasons

Robert Bolt's 1960 play A Man for All Seasons is considered something of a modern classic, and one that seems to attract actors to revisit its lead over the years - Martin Shaw previously played Thomas More in 2006, and returns nearly two decades later for this touring production finishing its run at the Pinter. Covering the familiar ground of Henry VIII's spilt both from his first wife and the Catholic Church, it does so from the point of view of More, the Lord Chancellor whose refusal to undermine the Pope's authority and subsequent fall from grace saw him posthumously considered a martyr and saint by the Church. When we first meet him he's managing to hold on to his power and influence, but as soon as it becomes impossible to accept Henry's divorce from Catherine of Aragon without also endorsing the idea that the Church ruled wrongly on the issue, he quietly resigns his position.

As a lawyer he's relying on the technicality that, by never stating the reason for his resignation, he can't be prosecuted for doing so for treasonous reasons, but that doesn't stop his motivation being inferred as a slight, and Henry's pragmatic fixer Thomas Cromwell knows he needs to make an example of him.

This feels very much part of an old-fashioned way of telling a historical story - a lot of men booming importantly at each other in somber tones in front of roaring fires - and Jonathan Church's production, complete with Tudor outfits resplendent in furs and chains from Simon Higlett and plenty of lute music from Paul Groothuis and Matthew Scott, doesn't do much to make it stand out from the many more recent theatrical takes on the period. More crucially, it doesn't feel like it engages at all with the idea of More's stand against Henry having any relevance to modern leaders who break or change the law to suit them.

Bolt does provide a couple of fresher touches, most obviously in having the story narrated by Gary Wilmot's Common Man, who cheerily takes on all the servant and labourer roles, from More's butler to his executioner - the one recurring theme being that the big men grandstanding over their principles will always delegate the dirty jobs to the little man, and find a good reason why they shouldn't pay him more for it. Possibly the best moment is when More loses his wealth and has to fire his servants, telling Wilmot in his guise as Matthew the butler that he can keep him on but will have to reduce his wages: Where the cliché demands a "lawd, guvnor, working for your Saintship is payment enough," Matthew instead replies that OK, he'll just go work for someone else who can pay him properly.

There's also an attempt to include the women in More's family and how they're affected, but despite some decent stage time his wife Alice (Abigail Cruttenden) and daughter Margaret (Rebecca Collingwood) never get much characterisation beyond different brands of stubbornness and quiet support, while Margaret's husband Roper (Sam Phillips) is a missed opportunity to contrast More with someone more open to questioning his own opinions.

Here Cromwell (Edward Bennett) is cast as the villain of the piece but his scenes with henchman Richard Rich (Calum Finlay) are among the liveliest of the evening - Cromwell also benefiting from being the only person to bring up the elephant in the room, of how come the Spanish Ambassador (Asif Khan) has a French accent. Orlando James' brief turn as a blokeishly menacing Henry VIII also livens up proceedings, but the burden of making the evening come to life is with Shaw and, more impassive than impassioned, he never convinced me why we should care about his grumpily stoical dedication to his religion.

A Man for All Seasons by Robert Bolt is booking until the 6th of September at the Harold Pinter Theatre.

Running time: 2 hours 40 minutes including interval.

Photo credit: Simon Annand.