One of my most favorite plays. At one point, we even did a reading of this to celebrate my birthday, something I would consider doing again. ( )

I nearly always read the book before I see the movie, but when I popped the film version of A Man for All Seasons into my VCR about a year ago, I had no idea that it was originally a very famous play, let alone available in book format. I adored the movie and was elated when I later found this volume in a thrift store.

I finally got around to reading it earlier this year, and I'm ashamed to say I am disappointed. The character of the Common Man is very much in the tradition of Thornton Wilder (and if you've read my review of Our Town, you'll know I don't mean that as a complement), and the entire play seems rather minimalist. I guess I have an issue with theatrical contrivances like that, which I usually find get in the way of the story. That said, this play does get better as it goes on and becomes more centered upon Sir Thomas More's predicament. But I prefer the earthier historicity of the film, and consider Bolt's screenplay an improvement upon his stage version. Believe me, this is one of the few times I've preferred the movie to the original! ( )

St. Thomas More

Though the play is fairly easy to read and the language can be understood by a high school student, some background information regarding the history of the Church of England and Catholism would be helpful in understanding the context of this play. ( )

I was first introduced to the movie in history class when I was about thirteen or fourteen, and absolutely adored it; so I sought out the script of the stage play to read as well.

Normally, I am not enamoured by a script when it's merely written words on a page - they usually seem a flat and a dead thing, empty of life and spark. I need to see it enacted and brought to life on the stage or in a movie. Bolt's managed to create a work which succeeds in captivating me on the page alone.

I don't have a very visual imagination - I tend to see in word pictures and verbal associations - so the pared-down, minimalistic approach Bolt uses when it comes to description and place really appealed to me. More than that, though, was the dialogue, which is the real joy and heart of this play. It's energetic and engaging, a wonderful mix of intellectual argument and erudition and dry humour. The verbal sparring between More and his opponents was just a joy to read.

More's personality isn't perhaps exactly how I would have pictured him from reading his writings - he comes across as a little more human in the play, I think. A little less steadfastly earnest and pious; and I think the play is the better for it. Bolt knew how to balance historical realism and accuracy with artistic license to create something which is very much both of 16th century England, and which speaks to the timeless dilemma of trying to reconcile personal beliefs with reality.

The ending was... interesting, if highly cynical. Probably the part of it that I'll end up mulling over the most, because of how it impacts on the preceding text and on my own views.

It's a very short work - only a hundred pages in the small edition I have - and you don't really need to know much about the background; so what are you waiting for? Go read! ( )