SINCE theatre bounced back, we have been bombarded with blockbuster musicals. I’m not complaining, but it is a relief to go to a West End theatre, the Gielgud, to see a play about a pivotal moment in British history: The Mirror and the Light, adapted by the book’s author, Hilary Mantel, and the actor Ben Miles.
I have sharp memories of the stage version of the first two novels in the trilogy, Wolf Hall and Bring up the Bodies, as I crawled up to Stratford-on-Avon to see them from a hospital bed seven years ago. They unforgettably charted Cromwell’s rise from blacksmith’s son to king’s seemingly indispensable counsellor. The new play starts in 1540 with an imprisoned Cromwell facing a trumped-up charge of treason and then tracks back four years to show his spectacular fall from grace.
This is narrative theatre at its best: even if you know the outline of the story, you want to know the whys and wherefores. ‘When you reach the top of the ladder, where do you go?’ Cromwell himself asks. You realise his descent was accelerated by his friendship with Mary Tudor, Henry VIII’s fiercely Catholic daughter, by his role in suppressing the Northern monasteries and, above all, by his reckless promotion of the detested Anna of Cleves as Henry’s fourth wife. ‘Make me happy, Crom,’ says Henry; when Cromwell fails to do that, his fate is sealed.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der October 20, 2021-Ausgabe von Country Life UK.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der October 20, 2021-Ausgabe von Country Life UK.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
Kitchen garden cook - Apples
'Sweet and crisp, apples are the epitome of autumn flavour'
The original Mr Rochester
Three classic houses in North Yorkshire have come to the market; the owner of one inspired Charlotte Brontë to write Jane Eyre
Get it write
Desks, once akin to instruments of torture for scribes, have become cherished repositories of memories and secrets. Matthew Dennison charts their evolution
'Sloes hath ben my food'
A possible paint for the Picts and a definite culprit in tea fraud, the cheek-suckingly sour sloe's spiritual home is indisputably in gin, says John Wright
Souvenirs of greatness
FOR many years, some large boxes have been stored and forgotten in the dark recesses of the garage. Unpacked last week, the contents turned out to be pots: some, perhaps, nearing a century old—dense terracotta, of interesting provenance.
Plants for plants' sake
The garden at Hergest Croft, Herefordshire The home of Edward Banks The Banks family is synonymous with an extraordinary collection of trees and shrubs, many of which are presents from distinguished friends, garnered over two centuries. Be prepared to be amazed, says Charles Quest-Ritson
Capturing the castle
Seventy years after Christian Dior’s last fashion show in Scotland, the brand returned under creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri for a celebratory event honouring local craftsmanship, the beauty of the land and the Auld Alliance, explains Kim Parker
Nature's own cathedral
Our tallest native tree 'most lovely of all', the stately beech creates a shaded environment that few plants can survive. John Lewis-Stempel ventures into the enchanted woods
All that money could buy
A new book explores the lost riches of London's grand houses. Its author, Steven Brindle, looks at the residences of plutocrats built by the nouveaux riches of the late-Victorian and Edwardian ages
In with the old
Diamonds are meant to sparkle in candlelight, but many now gather dust in jewellery boxes. To wear them today, we may need to reimagine them, as Hetty Lintell discovers with her grandmother's jewellery
