Bring up the Bodies, at Aldwych theatre

I feel I can properly review Bring up the Bodies this time, as our seats were so much better, and I could actually see the stage.

Hilary Mantel's award-winning novels Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies have been adapted by the Royal Shakespeare Company and are currently on stage at Aldwych theatre. The novels chart the life of Thomas Cromwell, from his tutelage under Cardinal Wolsey, to his growing influence with Henry VII, to his role is orchestrating the fall of Anne Boleyn. Wolf Hall covers up to the death of Wolsey, and the marriage of Anne to Henry. Bring up the Bodies plots Cromwell's growing power, Anne's death and the King's new infatuation with Jane Seymour. 

Ben Miles as Thomas Cromwell (picture source)

After the absolute seat disaster when we saw Wolf Hall (seriously, don't book seats Grand, AA 3 & 4), we decided that we'd go see the second adaptation of Hillary Mantel's novels, Bring up the Bodies, and this time do it properly.  Our seats (Grand, Row B, 17 & 18) cost considerably more, just under £50, but we felt it was totally worth it. It even enhanced our earlier experience of Wolf Hall as there was references made to the first play, and little things I noticed, like Thomas Cromwell's (Ben Miles) Putney accent is subtler in Bring Up the Bodies, as he is even further from his humble origins, which I wouldn't have spotted if I hadn't been to both plays.

The staging of the play is minimalistic, beyond a few chairs and a table, there aren't many props. The back wall is divided into a cross, as one of the key subjects of the play is religious reform,England's break with Catholicism and the dissolution of the monasteries. Fire occasionally comes out of the floor in a doorway, to represent a hearth, and to show the scene is taking place inside, dappled light, like the sun through trees, is projected on the back wall for scenes in the garden. The costumes are of the period, and there are limited changes, Cromwell wears the same black velvet throughout both Wolf Hall and Bring up the Bodies.    

Nathaniel Parker as King Henry VII (picture source)

I really like the use of tableaux, a simple but affective way of changing scene or illustrating a point. For example at the end of the play, all those who died throughout the two plays are frozen in the background whilst Cromwell talks about them, he then joins them, showing both his involvement in their deaths and also foreshadowing his own.  

All the cast were of of high calibre, apart from I'm afraid Leah Brotherhead, who I'm afraid let the side down a bit. Her Jane Seymour didn't have enough guile, she didn't seem to be a worthy opponent to Anne. Yes, Jane was supposed to be 'milksop', a respite from Anne's quick temper, but I imagined Jane's niceness and gentleness just to be another form of manipulation. Brotherhead's Jane came across as slow-witted and her voice verged on the whiny. I feel a bit harsh now, I think it's because the other actors were so talented, that Brotherhead's weakness were just more apparent.

The stand out performer, for me, was Lucy Briers who played Katherine of Aragon and Jane Boleyn (Lady Rochford). Both characters were distinctly different. She managed to portray Katherine's dignity and resilience, and her jowls quivered with indignation. Ben Miles (Thomas Cromwell) was also very good.

(photo source)

My favourite scene was the when Thomas Cromwell goes to the tower to question William Brereton, Henry Norris, Francis Weston and George Boleyn after they are charged with adultery with the Queen. The four accused are seated in a semi-circle around Cromwell, as Cromwell questions them they are spotlighted and when the interviews are over they exist the stage. It was very well scripted, and the actors gave excellent performances, and become trapped and manipulated by Cromwell into turning on each other.

I could go on for hours, I was incredibly impressed by Bring Up the Bodies and would highly recommend you go see it if you get the chance. As far as I know, there are still tickets available. Our seats, Grand, Row B 17 & 18, were a good choice, and we had a superb view of the stage. We where in the back section, but second from the front. I think it is worth paying the extra £7 to be seated one row back from the front, as your view may be obscured by the lights and safety bar in the front row. I'm just under 5"7 and did feel a little cramped, but this is to be expected at an old theatre. If you're tall than me, you might want to consider sitting in row D of the Grand, as it has more leg room, but on the downside, there is another safety bar which might obscure your view.     

Wolf Hall at Aldwych Theatre

If you haven't read Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall and its equally brilliant sequel Bring Up the Bodies I highly recommend you get a crack on and read them. They chart the rise and fall of Thomas Cromwell, a powerful minister in the court of Henry VII.   

I was so ridiculously excited when I found out the RSC was adapting the books for the stage and was thrilled when the production came to London. 

I felt incredibly lucky when me and my mum managed to get tickets to see the Saturday matinee, and even more when we got them for a bargain £10. However, as soon as we got to Aldwych theatre we realised we hadn't bagged ourselves a bargain at all. 

We bought the tickets fully aware they were restricted view, what we didn't realise that 'restricted' in this case meant no view. We were devastated. When we bought the tickets we consulted the theatre map and to our understanding it looked like we were in the top section, at the front and far to the right, we assumed we would have a bar or a railing partially obscuring our view. We we're even on proper seats, we faced the audience rather than the stage, and only could see a tiny slither of stage and only if we cramped up against the wall and contorted our bodies to lean over the railing. In my opinion these tickets should not have been on sale. For future reference our tickets were AA seat 3 and 4. DO NOT BUY THESE TICKETS. 

So I don't feel I can probably review the production as I didn't really see it and therefore can't really comment on the staging, performances or even costumes. All I can say is it sounded good, and despite the disastrous tickets, we did enjoy ourselves. I'm hoping we can get some decent tickets for Bring Up the Bodies so we can have the proper experience. 

Thomas Cromwell

"But my sins are my strength, he thinks; the sins I have done, that others have not even found the opportunity of committing. I hug them close; they are mine. Besides when I come to judgement I mean to come with a memorandum in my hand: I shall say to my Maker, I have fifty items here, possibly more."  

- Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall

Anne

"They are black eyes, slightly protuberant, shiny like the beads of an abacus; they are shiny and always in motion, as she makes calculations of her own advantage"

-Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall

Man Booker

It's been announced today that all novels written in English will be eligible to win the Man Booker Prize, currently only authors from the commonwealth, Ireland or Zimbabwe are considered. There has been some controversy over this decision, as it may be difficult to decide on which books are nominated.

Personally I think it's a good thing, by opening up the entry requirements it ensures that the prize remains relevant and the winner is of the highest caliber. By not allowing countries such as America to compete, it send the message that the organisers are threatened by US talent. There was a suggestion that a parallel US only prize would be introduced, but I'm really glad that they scrapped that idea.

According to the BBC website Hillary Mantel sold 1,846 copies of Bring up the Bodies in the UK a week before the Man Booker Prize was announced, and sold 10,605 copies the week after her win. Clearly the prize has a lot of influence, so I think writers from all over the world deserve the same opportunity.

What do you think? Should the Man Booker Prize go global?

Women Writers- sisters doing it for themselves

Female authors are slowly gaining recognition in the media, for the first time the Granta list, which celebrates twenty  promising British authors under forty, comprises of more women than men. It is also refreshing to see the addition of authors from diverse backgrounds, including Somalian, Bangladeshi and Chinese. For the Granta list to remain relevant it is important that the authors chosen reflect Britain and modern British Literature, which is multicultural and complex.

 I've only read three of the authors featured on the Granta list, Xiaolu Guo, Ned Beauman and Zadie Smith, but I'm looking forward to checking out the others. 

Xiaolu Guo, one of the women of this years Granta list, I love her hat 

I have read debates recently about whether it is still necessary to still have female only awards for literature, such as the Women's Prize for Fiction, personally I believe it is still needed. I was shocked to read on VIDA about the disparity between the number of male authors reviewed compared to women authors. The men outweigh the women, clearly showing that male authors are getting more publicity, more acclaim and more notice than their female counterparts. Below are graphs, taken form VIDA, that show a gender count of bylines and authors reviewed in literary publications. Even Granta, if unequal, showing that the majority female list this year is an anomaly.