A new dramatisation of Hilary Mantel's Man Booker Prize winning novels Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies plays in two parts this season in the Swan Theatre.
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.
Hilary Mantel is the first author to win two Man Booker Prizes with consecutive novels. They are now adapted for the stage in two parts by Mike Poulton (for the RSC St Erkenwald, Morte D'Arthur, The Canterbury Tales).
Directed by Royal Court Associate Director Jeremy Herrin. Recent credits include This House (National Theatre) and Much Ado About Nothing (Shakespeare's Globe).