A Man For All Seasons
May 1998
by Robert Bolt, directed by Avril Pattinson
Cast: Common Man - Bill Pattinson Sir Thomas More - Anthony Morris Richard Rich - Nathan Curry Duke of Norfolk - Gordon Halliday Lady Alice More - Margaret Butt Margaret More - Kate Onyett Cardinal Wolsey - Eric Hume Thomas Cromwell - John Palmer Signor Chapuys - Peter King Chapuy's Attendant - Andy Parsons William Roper - David Batty King Henry VIII - Ian Bond A Women - Rose Gander | Production Team: Director - Avril Pattinson Stage Manager - Freddie Jacobs Set - Clare Girvan Wardrobe - Isla Morgan Production Assistant - Rose Gander Properties - Sylvia Brace Lighting - Stuart Yerrell & Margaret Yerrell Music - Geoffrey Brace Poster Design - Clare Givan Front of House - Lynn Leger and team Crew - Brian Bowker, Cass Thorne & Keith Palmer |
Reviews:
From Estuary News:
...handsomely costumed; uncluttered in design; its action pleasingly matched to music and sound effects...
This is a play for all seasons: some characters are entering their winter, others have barely left their spring - and an appointment with the grim reaper will cut off next summer for quite a few. It is a complex piece, in that it interweaves the demands of public service and private aspirations, hopes and fears. It calls for clarity of presentation in setting and concentration in performance, and happily, it receives both in Avril Pattinson's thoughtful production.
A simple set on two levels allows the action to flow, so that the audience accepts without difficulty that the upper stage edge forms a riverside, that a trellis represents a cell in the Tower of London, and the siting of a painted coat of arms and two throne-like chairs introduces us to the dignity of the Hall of Westminster.
We are guided through the story as it unfolds by the Common Man. Bill Pattinson plays him with sly wit, changing costume and character with deft skill. In the massive role of Sir Thomas More, Anthony Morris gives us, with increasing authority, a man bedevilled by his own conscience and doomed as a matter of principle to sacrifice his own life and the fabric of his family. Margaret Butt as Lady Alice, and Kate Onyett as their daughter Margaret, convey with touching dignity and pain the bewilderment of a parting they can see no real reason for. John Palmer gives us a splendidly devious and malicious Cromwell. Ian Bond's vigorous Henry VIII is brimming with threatening bonhomie and among a host of other parts, larger and smaller, all played with proper attention to detail, Eric Hume's Wolsey stands out, like a malignant tortoise in a blood-red carapace.
This is a war-horse of a play, strong and well-muscled; handsomely costumed; uncluttered in design; its action pleasingly matched to music and sound effects; it adds lustre to Estuary Players' record of successful productions over the years.
