A Man For All Seasons – Review – York Grand Opera House

By Elizabeth Stanforth-Sharpe, August 2025

The 16th century English grammarian, Robert Whittington, was a contemporary of Sir Thomas More, the Lord Chancellor of England, who refused to add his signature to both a letter asking Lord Clement VII to annul the marriage of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon simply because she had provided no male heir, and to take the Oath of Supremacy declaring Henry to be the Supreme Head of the Church of England. In 1520, Whittington wrote of More, ‘More 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 marvellous mirth and pastimes, and sometime of as sad gravity. A man for all seasons’.

Robert Bolt took the phrase as the title for his play, which had its earliest incarnation in 1954, but after further developments first premiered on stage in 1960, portraying More as a man who stayed true to his own convictions, at all times and in all circumstances, despite the intense pressure that ultimately resulted in his execution.

It is good to see a play of this calibre touring, and under Jonathan Church’s ordered and thoughtful direction the themes of identity and conscience are as pertinent today as they ever were. To see Martin Shaw reprising the role of Sir Thomas More is even more joyous.

The Grand Opera House York is the only northern venue on the tour of this production. A fitting gesture that helps with the historical lineage. The events of the play happen less than fifty years after the end of the series of conflicts that later became known as the Wars of the Roses. Henry VII’s victory at the Battle of Bosworth resulted in his marriage to Elizabeth of York in 1486, to symbolise his desire to be seen as ‘the peacemaker king’ and the union of the houses of York and Lancaster. Elizabeth’s second, and only surviving, son became King Henry VIII.

Hans Holbein the Younger’s portrait of Thomas More has been rethought for the publicity of A Man For All Seasons, cleverly placing a photograph of Martin Shaw in half-profile, wearing the Tudor collar of esses with a Union rose, to signify his high office. Shaw’s steady gaze embodies the solemnity and quiet conviction of the man he is portraying, the overwhelming sadness about the eyes a portend of just how dearly those convictions will cost More.

The portrait’s impact continues in every gesture, facial expression and considered movement of Shaw’s magnificent, dignified performance as the protagonist in tension with the prevailing society. He is bewitching to watch.

“Hungry for power”

Guiding the audience through the events of history from 1529 – 1635, is The Common Man (Gary Wilmot), accompanied by his costume hamper carrying the correct gear for all occasions. The all-seeing Brechtian clown device enables him to be, in turn, a servant, a publican, a ferryman, a jailor, a juror, and an executioner – part of the action, yet also standing outside of it, as a humorous narrator of events. Wilmot is the perfect choice for this part, breaking the fourth wall and drawing us into his confidence, but not above the odd betrayal of his own if it earns him a bob or two. In many ways, he too is a man for all seasons, of a differing kind.

In his opening speech he says, “…the 16th century was the century of the Common Man – like all the other centuries”, urging the strong suggestion that only a small percentage of society is responsible for making the big decisions in any era, the views of the average man on the street overlooked or sidelined.

Certainly, this is a play in which King Henry, Cromwell, Wolsey, Cranmer, Chapuys, and even Norfolk are portrayed as corrupt, evil, scheming or, at the very least, hungry for power. There is no indulgence of these people as heroes here – a tactic that further emphasizes the decency of More, a champion of the common people and as flagrantly disregarded as they are.

Whilst his friends and associates are prepared to bend the truth or allow injustices to happen to protect or further their own stations, More stands resolute, despite the anguish of his wife, Alice (Abigail Cruttenden), and his eldest daughter Margaret (Rebecca Collingwood). The tenderness of their bond as a family unit captures their pain well. Alice has been widowed before and Margaret’s mother died when she was just a child; they respect and love More for his ethical stance but are distraught that it will inevitably bring them more loss. Cruttenden is determined to be strong, and Collingwood struggles to hold on to her emotions, but both are elegantly restrained and deeply moving to watch.

To add insult to injury, after More has resigned from the Chancellorship, the Imperial ambassador to England, Senor Chapuys (Asif Khan), informs More that a Catholic rebellion along the Scottish border is being planned. More reveals this to Norfolk (Timothy Watson), endorsing the fact that he is indeed a loyal and patriotic subject of the King, whom he refuses to speak a word against.

“Completely ruthless”

When Thomas Cromwell – given a suitably creepy mixture of sinister malice and oily unctuousness by Edward Bennett – prosecutes him for treason, he recognises that he cannot reasonably, legally, or morally, do so because More obstinately declines to oppose the sovereign, but groundlessly does it anyway to satisfy his own sense of spite and desire for power. Cromwell is the complete antithesis of all that More stands for. Was I the only audience member wanting to hiss and boo whenever Cromwell appeared?

Henry VIII himself appears in only one scene, but his terrifying, unstable character is omnipresent. At the performance I watched, the role was taken by understudy Huw Brentnall, who deserves a special mention for embodying the monarch’s complex personality. Full of his own narcissistic self-importance, loudly boasting of his possessions and his prowess as a songwriter and a Latin scholar, and completely ruthless in it all. It’s never easy to take on another actor’s part, but Brentnall did it superbly.

A Man For All Seasons is a sumptuous production with beautiful costumes and a classical set of dark wood panelling designed by Simon Higlet, that feels solid, traditional and substantial. It is as if the surroundings themselves are weighted in favour of More’s rectitude. Under Church’s directorial eye, every line of Bolt’s incredible script has been exploited. There is humour, arguments and rebuttals aplenty, finely composed speeches and an underlying intelligent gravitas that is refreshing to see in the theatre of today.

images: Simon Annand