A Man For All Seasons (1977)

Author:
New Play:

Venue:
Location:
Staging:

First performance:
Opening night:
Final performance:
Robert Bolt
No

Theatre in the Round at Westwood
Main house (Round)
Round

8 November 1977
9 November 1977
3 December 1977
Director:
Design:
Costume Design:

Stage Manager:
Deputy Stage Manager:
Assistant Stage Manager:
Assistant Stage Manager:
Alan Ayckbourn
Michael Holt
David Harvey-Jones

Janet Fox
Ian Farrar
Dee Marsden
Derek Scriminger
Character
The Common Man
Sir Thomas More
Master Richard Rich
The Duke Of Norfolk
Lady Alice More
Lady Margaret More
Cardinal Wolsey
Thomas Cromwell
Signor Chapuys
Chapuys Attendant
William Roper
Henry VIII
A Woman
Thomas Cranmer
Actor
Stanley Page
Robert Austin
Stephen Lowe
Christopher Godwin
Alison Skilbeck
Diane Bull
John Arthur
Malcolm Hebden
Mervyn Watson
Christopher Gray
Nighel Hughes
Robin Herford
Annette Badland
John Arthur

Why is this play significant?

The largest company to have - by that point in time - performed in theatre in the round in Scarborough with 14 actors. It was also notable for its costumes being designed by noted stage and screen designer David Harvey-Jones.

Notes

○ Contemporary correspondence in archive indicates Joe Orton's Entertaining Mr Sloane was initially scheduled to be performed from 1 - 26 November 1977 and a license had been issued. It is not known why the production was changed.
○ A Man For All Seasons was scheduled to run until 26 November, but when Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf was cancelled due to the ill health of an actor, the run of the play was extended.
○ The production was noted for its period costumes, which were designed by David Harvey-Jones, notable for making all the costumes for King Henry VIII for the television series Six Wives Of Henry VIII.
○ The 13 costumes specifically designed for the production were made by 10 students - under the supervision of David Harvey-Jones - from the Mabel Fletcher Technical College, Liverpool, where David was head of the theatre wardrobe department.
○ The play was reported as having the largest ever cast for the company with 14 actors employed for the production.
○ When the company moved to its second home in October 1976 at the former Westwood County Modern School, it was only supposed to be a temporary home until a proposed permanent theatre in the round was built in place of Vernon Road car park. As a result, for the first two years of its existence, the venue was called Theatre in the Round at Westwood. When it became apparent the new theatre was not going to be built and 'Westwood' was to become a more permanent home, the venue's name was changed on 1 April 1978 to the Stephen Joseph Theatre in the Round in honour of its founder.
All research for this page by Simon Murgatroyd.