Never
was a “season” more apt than now for Robert Bolt’s depiction of Sir
Thomas More and the story of his clash with Henry VIII over Henry’s
desire to divorce Catherine of Aragon in defiance of the Catholic
Church, Spain, and the Pope. Sir Thomas, a consummate man of conscience
and principle, loved by his family and the commoners, remains faithful
to his moral code to the very end, despite immense pressures, enticing
alternatives, and the threat of death. Thematically rich, stuffed with
matters of import, the play is, at the same time, an often funny,
moving and compelling historical drama.
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