Robert Bolt’s brilliant “A Man for All Seasons” is the penultimate production for Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey’s 2023 season and what an Autumn treat! Certainly, we know that while Sir Thomas Moore was in the Autumn of his life, he suffered Henry VIII’s winter of discontent. Taking place more than 400 years ago, and written in the middle of the last century, the circumstances could have just been in your news feed or scrolling on your screen. And there are no spoilers here – this is drama from real life, just as we live it, in the moment.
Paul Mullins helms, with Thomas Michael Hammond as More. Hammond embodies the gravitas of the role so well that history comes alive. Kevin Isola as The Common Man is sheer perfection as he puts pins, in every sense of the word, in each of the characters bedeviling More. James McMenamin’s Cromwell balances Hammond’s wellspring of More’s good heart. With a moustache-twirling affect. McMenamin’s display of raw ambition as Cromwell is worthy of Congress. While Cromwell claims to be the voice of Henry, that overgrown self indulgent man-baby, portrayed with great gusto by Roger Clark, is handled deftly by all in their own way. Henry, of course, is none the wiser.
Edward Furs’ Signor Chapuys is as unctuous as hair pomade and as constant as a weather vane – as a counterpart to Cromwell, equally ambitious while somewhat less obvious. Anthony Marble as the Duke of Norfolk, the man who strives mightily for his best friend More, and in the end comes up tragically short, is as gifted in this production as in his other appearances this season. The Duke is nuanced, loyal, sometimes borderline comic yet all balancing the level, deeply conscientious More. They both walk the tightrope of Henry’s whims and yet…and yet.
Ah but what of More’s family life? Unlike most wives of the time, Alice (Mary Stillwagon Stewart) is truly his other half. This is a marriage of equals and Alice’s fierce love and intellect radiate in Stewart’s performance. Daddy’s little girl, Margaret More, is joie de vivre wrapped with genius in a glow of devotion. Yet all of this love and genius cannot free her father from the subtle noose. This evening goes by so quickly.
While the first act is filled with gems, it is the second act that reaches directly in, to your heart. That moment when More well and truly understands his arguments are futile is achingly visible on Hammond’s face. This show feels so deep and is so well crafted, it belies the few weeks permitted to mount a play. We see and feel history, it will touch you. Move you. See it.
Playing now through November 5, Sir Thomas More is history, get your tickets now at www.ShakespeareNJ.org.