Wolf Hall

BEN MILES’ performance as Thomas Cromwell in Mike Poulton’s dramatization of Hilary Mantel’s novels ‘Wolf Hall’ and ‘Bring up the Bodies’ is an incredible feat to watch. Here at Another Tongue we have all been blown away by Ben’s performance: his transformation night-in-night-out (not to mention the matinees) from the mere ‘butcher’s dog’ (or so Cromwell was snidely coined by the elite members of the court), to the most powerful man in Tudor England, second only to King Henry VIII himself. Capturing such an iconic and seminal historical figure can be no easy task but the never-ending trail of beaming reviews from the likes of the Independent, the Times and the Guardian, unanimously stand testimony to Ben’s great achievement.

Packed full with moments of gravitas, humour, and prophetic irony, Wolf Hall is an incredible theatre experience, capturing perfectly the tension lying beneath Tudor-court factionalism and painfully portraying the sharp sting of fortune’s wheel. However what makes this performance so memorable is Ben’s interpretation of Cromwell. Rather than conforming to the opportunistic machiavellian caricature Thomas Cromwell has been donned with over the centuries, Ben stays true to the essence of the Mantel novels by delving beneath the public exterior of Cromwell. Indeed Ben makes very clear that the Mantel novels were to him, like the Tyndale Bible to Cromwell: never to be without (being found in Ben’s rehearsal room, his home and even in his bag when on the tube). The result is a dual-success, Ben capturing the conventional perception of the man who infamously ‘showed the lion his own strength’ whilst also revealing to us a new side: the private life and emotion of Thomas Cromwell.

All we want to do now is walk straight back into the Aldwych theatre and see the sequel, ‘Bring up the Bodies’. Make sure to have a look at the Royal Shakespeare Company website to get tickets for both ‘Wolf Hall’ and ‘Bring up the Bodies’ and to also check out all of the amazing insights the website has to offer into the creation of these theatrical masterpieces.