Not Another Sugar-Coated Candidate

In an election season loaded with candidates who appear to change their views depending on the political climate, we might find the Roundabout Theatre Company’s revival of A Man For All Seasons refreshing. Robert Bolt’s 1960 play, which opened at the American Airlines Theatre earlier this month, follows the unshakeable Sir Thomas More, chancellor of England under King Henry VIII, as he refuses to back down in the face of death and recognize the Catholic king’s divorce as legitimate. Finally, we can watch a political figure who sticks to his guns and religious beliefs in the face of everyone telling him to change his mind. Oh no, wait...

Frank Langella, last seen on Broadway in his Tony-winning portrayal of a former president coming to terms with his conscience in Frost/Nixon, stars here as the angelic but doomed Sir More. Witty, self-deprecating, and steadfastly moral, More is the obvious saint to Nixon’s sinner. But in their attempt to valorize More, Bolt’s text and Langella’s performance equally ignore the shadier areas of More’s moral and political obligations.

In this production, King Henry VIII—yes, the one with all the wives, played here by Patrick Page—is a pompous and capricious ruler whose conscience will not allow him to let More live in silent opposition. But the play only makes scant reference to the king’s very serious problem of begetting a male heir, the absence of which truly had the potential to create civil strife (as his eventual successor, Queen Mary—also known as “Bloody Mary”—would demonstrate). In hindsight, few would negatively regard England’s break with the Roman Catholic Church (the ultimate result of all Henry’s actions), and far fewer would find problem with divorce.

And yet we might be lulled into forgetting these facts by Langella’s sympathetic portrayal of the perfectly good Sir More. As he tries to protect himself in a shroud of silence, More misses the point: the king desires his approval not only because he is “honest,” but more importantly, because he is “known to be honest.” As another character says of More: “This silence of his is bellowing up and down the coasts of Europe.”

Langella’s More stands taller than any of the other characters on the simple, wood-framed stage, claiming an uncompromising moral stance that he “can’t give in.” He tells friends to end their relationships with him, then drags his wife and daughter into poverty before telling them to flee the country to save their own lives, all so that he can live with himself. His actions are not motivated by courage in this life but by fear of God’s wrath in the next. In this white light, More’s holiness comes across as nothing but selfish—all the more so because of Langella’s hammy self-righteousness.

Part of the magic of Langella’s portrayal of Nixon was his ability to humanize him: to find the good lurking in the shadows of his character. Langella’s inability to find the bad in More is ultimately this production’s greatest weakness. For better drama, check out the film version of Frost/Nixon, which opens in December. Or just YouTube the presidential debates.
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A Man For All Seasons is directed by Doug Hughes and is playing at the American Airlines Theatre. The American Airlines Theatre is located at 227 W. 42nd St. (between Seventh and Eighth avenues). Student tickets are $20 through HipTix and are subject to availability. Go to hiptix.com to learn more.