News: Hilary Mantel’s The Mirror and the Light to premiere in the West End

Hilary Mantel’s The Mirror and the Light is set to arrive in the West End, adapted for the stage by Mantel and Ben Miles.

Directed by Jeremy Herrin and starring Ben Miles and Nathaniel Parker as Thomas Cromwell and Henry VIII, the production is set to open at the Gielgud Theatre on 23 September, running until 28 November.

The Mirror and the Light is the final novel in Mantel’s award-winning Wolf Hall trilogy. This production will feature 150 tickets per performance available at £32.50 or under.

Produced by Playful Productions and the Royal Shakespeare Company, this world premiere is the concluding chapter of Mantel’s multi-award winning novels about the rise and fall of Thomas Cromwell. Previous stage adaptations of Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies swiped Olivier and Tony Awards, and were hailed as must-see theatrical events.

Wolf Hall won the Man Booker Prize in 2009, and Bring Up the Bodies won in 2012, making Mantel the first woman to have received the award twice. Bring Up the Bodies also won the Costa Novel Award, the first time the same novel has won both this and the Man Booker.

The trilogy charts the riveting rise and fall of Thomas Cromwell in the ruthless court of Henry VIII. England, 1536. Anne Boleyn’s head lies in a sack. Jane Seymour gives King Henry only a fleeting hope of a healthy heir. Thomas Cromwell continues his ruthless ascent from the gutters of Putney to the highest rank beside his master. But with the threat of invasion and the King’s legacy tottering, Cromwell is vulnerable and his enemies are poised to strike.

The Mirror and the Light will feature scenic and costume design by Christopher Oram who won both Olivier and Tony Awards for Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies, plus music by Stephen Warbeck.

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