By Robert Bolt(Playwright)
Note by the playwright: Robert Bolt The action of this play ends in 1535, but the play was written in 1960, and if in production one date must obscure the other, it is 1960 which I would wish clearly to occupy the stage. The "Life" of a man like Thomas More proffers a number of caps which in this or any other century we may try on for size. But it is truly his life which afford the opportunity, so the question of historical accuracy does arise. I will claim (diffidently) that all the event essential to the action of his life during the period covered are present in the play, and (confidently) that none of the events essential tot he action of the play is entirely my own invention. That is, none of the events as they relate to More himself; the other characters have been combined and collapsed to as to keep the play to a tolerable length. He was a pivot of English life at the time when England was negotiating the sharpest corner in his spiritual history, and to have brought into the play even a fair sample of his acquaintances would have swamped it in a pageant of great names. His public and private reputations were staggeringly high - he seems to have had no petty enemies; only great and fatal ones. The title of this play is taken from a passage which was composed by Robert Whittinton for Tudor schoolboys to put into Latin: "More is a man of an angel's wit and singular learning; I know not his fellow. For where is the man of the gentleness, lowliness and affability? And as time requireth, a man of marvelous mirth and pastimes; and sometimes of as sad a gravity: a man for all seasons.
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| Character Name | Gender | Age | Lines | Scenes | Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alice More | — | — | — | — | |
| Cardinal Wolsey | — | — | — | — | |
| Cranmer | — | — | — | — | |
| His Attendant | — | — | — | — | |
| King Henry VIII | — | — | — | — | |
| Margaret More | — | — | — | — | |
| Richard Rich | — | — | — | — | |
| Signor Chapuys | — | — | — | — | |
| Sir Thomas More | — | — | — | — | |
| The Common Man | — | — | — | — | |
| The Duke of Norfolk | — | — | — | — | |
| The Woman | — | — | — | — | |
| Thomas Cromwell | — | — | — | — | |
| William Roper | — | — | — | — |
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| Collection | Opening Night | 🎭 Production Name | 🏛️ Company | 📍 Location | 🏢 Stage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 Nov 1961 | A Man For All Seasons | New York City, New York, United States | ANTA Theatre |