Wolf Hall & Bring Up the Bodies

The dramatization of the two Hilary Mantel novels Wolf Ha;; and Bring Up the Bodies is just brilliant. No other word for it. As is I think well known, its a faction of the life of Thomas Cromwell, a very clever and able man who has to work for the erratic desires of Henry VIII. This has everything. So lets look at the surprises rather than the obvious of being well-acted. And impressive as they are acting in two different long plays on consecutive nights.

Firstly its amazingly fast-paced. The plot speeds on relentlessly never letting you get bored with any unnecessary dialogue. Then its terrifically funny. There are so many lovely acerbic lines. And I loved a play set in Tudor England actually in Tudor dress, after all those modern Shakespeare adaptations. The stage set's brilliance was in its simplicity. It never distracted from the action.

Basically I can't praise it enough, nor my three companions. Only fault of our first night was being in the Grand Circle, an almost dizzying height from which to look down on the cast. Unsurprisingly, even on a Monday and Tuesday, the theatre was full.