A Man for All Seasons
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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A Man for All Seasons is a play by Robert Bolt. An early form of the play had been written for BBC Radio in 1954, but after Bolt's success with The Flowering Cherry, he reworked it for the stage.
It was first performed in London opening at the Globe Theatre (now called the Gielgud Theatre) on July 1 1960. It later found its way to Broadway, enjoying a critically and commercially successful run of over a year. It has had several revivals, and was subsequently made into a feature film and a television movie.
The plot is based on the true story of Sir Thomas More, the 16th-century Chancellor of England, who refuses to endorse or denounce King Henry VIII's wish to divorce his aging wife Catherine of Aragon, who could not bear him a son, so that he could marry Anne Boleyn, the sister of his former mistress.
The play portrays More as a man of principle, envied by rivals such as Thomas Cromwell and loved by the common people and by his family.
