Susan Granger: “A Man For All Seasons” (Roundabout Theater Co. ‘08-‘09 season)
In the first Broadway revival of Robert Bolt’s historical drama, Frank Langella dominates the stage as Sir Thomas More, the erudite 16th century humanist and royal chancellor who refused to acknowledge Henry VIII’s right to divorce his first wife, Queen Catherine of Aragon, in order to marry Anne Boleyn, to jettison the Pope’s domination of the Catholic Church from Rome and to become the titular head of the Church of England. You saw all this on PBS’s “The Tudors,” right?
In this season of too much political expediency and too little moral character, More’s virtuosity and courageous intransigence – his uncompromising conscience and utter belief in his convictions – is not only admirable but also timely. He speaks his truth with grandiosity and wit and accepts the fatal consequences of martyrdom, albeit with understandable terror.
For three-time Tony winner Frank Langella, it’s a bravura performance, but the rest of the production is less memorable. Admittedly, director Doug Hughes, who helmed the taut brilliant battle-of-wits in “Doubt,” has less to work with here. It’s all caricatures, not characters, and the verbal sparring stretches to a tedious two hours and 40 minutes. Quite frankly, it’s boring. And Santo Loquasto’s spare, all-purpose, wooden-frame set gives little sense of time or place.
While Patrick Page’s exuberance is ingratiating as young King Henry, who yearns for a male heir, Zach Grenier is all-too-obvious as his wily ally, the astute politician Thomas Cromwell.
Considering the high Broadway ticket prices these days, I recommend renting the dvd of the 1966 Oscar-winning film, starring the urbane Paul Scofield, who first played the role on Broadway instead – or, if you’re really intrigued, lining up at the new TKTS booth to pay half-price.