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Bright new look at an old tale
Anne Boleyn Malvern Festival Theatre ***** HOWARD Brenton's historical drama is a
marvellously entertaining telling of the story of Anne Boleyn. Set half in Tudor times to tell the story of Anne
Boleyn's love affair with Henry VIII, and half five decades on during
the reign of James 1, it makes for a fast-moving, witty, informative and
thoroughly enjoyable evening of theatre. We learn of Anne's influence over Henry to move
England away from Rome and the Pope. By alerting him to a new
translation of the Bible by the banned William Tyndale, they were able
to use the scriptures to argue that God had made Henry the head of the
church in England. He could therefore approve his own divorce and
marry Anne. The hook of the play then shows how her way of
accepting a revolutionary telling of the bible went on to influence
Henry's successor, James 1, many years later as he endeavoured to bring
the religious factions in the country together. One expects a production by the Globe Theatre to
showcase the country's finest actors, and the audience was definitely
treated to a large cast of unfailingly fine performances from English
Touring Theatre. Jo Herbert, in the title role, showed us Anne as
a strong, likeable, and feisty woman. She and Henry were ‘an item' for
seven years before they were able to marry. Evidently she refused to sleep with him until the
marriage was assured by Henry's divorce from Katherine. The play implies
that it was a true love affair between the pair, and Henry, desperate to
provide a male heir, had to turn the country, and religion, upside down
to be able to marry the woman he loved. However, others in the court, notably Cardinal
Wolsey and Thomas Cromwell, found her hugely threatening to their own
powerful influences. When she failed to produce a son, she was swiftly
removed from Henry's protection and disposed of in The Tower. The standout performance of the evening was James
Garnon's portrayal of James 1. His stammering, tic strewn, and
physically demanding role, was riveting to watch. He was the comic turn
of the play and held the audience completely spellbound whenever he was
on stage. This is a fine, well-crafted play and it is a joy
to have such an immaculate production gracing the stage in Malvern. To
28-04-12. Clare Trow
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