The survival of 16th century European countries was as dependent upon the blood lines of its rulers as it was upon the strength of its wealth and military. Producing a royal heir for the throne of England was not necessarily accomplished by a spontaneous romantic tryst in a haystack. Indeed, for Henry to marry Catherine of Aragon, the widow of his older brother, required a Papal dispensation on the chance Catherine had been less than honest when she swore the first marriage was not consummated. In 1509, Henry (18) and Catherine (23) married and proceeded to produce six sickly infants, including two sons; only one baby, Mary, survived.

When Henry was 34, he became smitten by Anne Boleyn, eager to marry her, desperate for a son. With the help of Deuteronomy, he rationalized that because he had married his brother’s widow, their babies were cursed not to survive. He sought an annulment which was denied by the Pope. Henry's plotting to break the power of the Roman Catholic Church began. When Cardinal Wolsey refused to support Henry’s argument, he turned to the highly respected Sir Thomas More, the Lord Chancellor, whose responsibilities included being “Keeper of the King’s Conscience” of which King Henry had a paucity and Sir Thomas a surfeit.

And thereby hangs a play.

At the beginning, and periodically throughout this intense drama, the audience is addressed by The Common Man who in his varied representations (convincingly rendered by Daniel Rios) keeps the audience grounded. With slight changes to his costume, he functions as More’s servant; a bartender; boatman; prison guard; jury foreman; and ultimately, More’s executioner.

Sir Thomas More’s self-control, his ability to see more than one side of an argument, are both admirable and maddening, e.g., his wife, Lady Alice (multifaceted Katrina Ferguson), whose love for her husband is tested by his idealism; and by King Henry’s frustration at More’s refusal to support his quest for an annulment. More declares, “I would readily have this arm cut off if it meant I could agree to the divorce with a clear conscience.” To Henry, conscience is a concept that eludes him. For More, it is his core. As the King, Robert H. Clark III’s entrance shocks: resplendent in royal robes of red and gold, his resemblance in stature and face to the paintings of Henry is nothing short of apparitional.

In contrast to More’s benign personality – as if he’s practicing medical doctors’ desired modus operandi, “First, do no harm”– is Thomas Cromwell’s thirst for power – calculating, menacing, pragmatic. Their scenes together, especially in the second act, are electric. As Cromwell, Sam Rush is detached, ingratiating himself with the king through smart service. His physical movements are quick, decisive. He’s not merely climbing the ladder to success, he’s clambering to the top.

Robert Lunde captures the serenity of More but stops short of sentimentalizing. His delivery is measured, kind, thoughtful. He radiates a presence. However, his sanctity has an edge that More ultimately exposes once his fate is sealed.

Greg Trochlil’s set design includes chameleon-like properties: by the rearrangement of a refectory table and two chairs, the adding or removal of cloths, candles, inkwell, and legal documents, the stately home of Thomas More is changed into Cardinal Wolsey’s office; or waiting for the ferry at the Thames River bank; a meeting in Hampton Court; a pub; the Tower of London; a courtroom; and an execution platform.

From homespun to sumptuous fabrics, Costume Designer Elaine Bergeron dresses the actors as if they’d time-traveled from the 16th century. While Master Richard Rich’s (Keith Bailey) star ascended, so did the richness of his wardrobe. Whereas the More household’s clothing lost its landed gentry patina to the practicality of scullery attire. The Common Man levels with the audience: "All right, so he's down on his luck! I'm sorry. I don't mind saying that: I'm sorry! Bad luck! If I'd any good luck to spare, he could have some. I wish we all have good luck, all the time! I wish we had wings! I wish rainwater was beer! But it isn't!"

In Danny Eaton’s Director’s Note, he writes of having waited a long time to bring A Man For All Seasons to the Majestic. After seeing a production he thought “failed miserably,” he was determined to present the play that honored Robert Bolt’s script – “the willingness, and the strength, to take a stand, to hold to what is right and what is in your heart, rather than what may be simply expedient.” As directed by Danny Eaton, there is no doubt that Sir Thomas More remains loyal to his convictions. The only way his wife, Alice, can understand his decision to sacrifice his life, is by believing that God will understand.

~~~~~~~~~~

A Man for all Seasons: an Historian's Demur
BY MARVIN O'CONNELL
Conscience for St. Thomas More was the right to be right,

not the right to be wrong.

St. Thomas More
(1477-1535)
"More," wrote Robert Whittinton in 1520, "is a man of an angel's wit and singular learning. I know not his fellow. For where is the man of that gentleness, lowliness and affability? And, as time requireth, a man of marvelous mirth and pastimes, and sometime of as sad gravity. A man for all seasons." Mr. Robert Bolt found in these lines a title for his remarkable play, in which More becomes "a man with an adamantine sense of his own self, [who] knew where he began and left off, what area of himself he could yield to the encroachments of his enemies, and what to the encroachments of those he loved." Such a person, with such a knowledge of and hold upon himself, must be the stuff of heroism at all times and all places — a hero bigger than life, or rather a hero whose moral sway is so prepossessing that he evokes a human response beyond any limiting considerations of time or place — and that, I suppose, is the point of Mr. Bolt's title. In the poet's vision, London of the l530s is as good a backdrop as any against which to pose questions about the nature of law and the love of God and the demands of honor, questions which are appropriately posed at every human season, because they touch at every season the human spirit stirring to unravel the mysteries it finds itself wrapped in.

In dealing with Mr. Bolt's More, we deal with the likes of Oedipus and Faust, not with a Willy Loman, whose tale is told within the context of a narrow and specific cultural setting essentially familiar to us. There may indeed be an apt season for the death of the salesman, but surely not for the death of the lord chancellor whose crise de conscience is too stark, too universal, too genuinely radical to exhaust its significance in that poignant moment on Tower Hill, Tuesday, July 6, 1535, a little before nine in the morning. In dealing with More, we have to face, in Mr. Bolt's words, "the terrifying cosmos, terrifying because no laws, no sanctions, no mores obtain there; it is either empty or occupied by God and Devil nakedly at war." The brilliant artistry of Mr. Bolt assures us that in watching the confrontation between More and King Henry VIII we are witnessing, as in some cosmic mirror, the seasonless struggle of our unhappy race....”

To continue reading:
http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/politics/pg0078.html

~~~~~~~

Thomas More was formally beatified by Pope Leo XIII,

in the Decree of 29 December, 1886.

St. Thomas More was canonized by Pope Pius XI in 1935,

400 years after his death

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14689c.htm