Bring Up The Bodies

What is Bring Up the Bodies about?

Bring Up the Bodies is the second part of Hilary Mantel's trilogy about Thomas Cromwell, continuing the story begun in Wolf Hall. The play dramatises the fall of Anne Boleyn, as Cromwell orchestrates the evidence and the trials that will send the Queen to the scaffold. What begins as political necessity becomes something darker as Cromwell uses the opportunity to settle personal scores, and the play asks whether a man who began as a reformer has become the very thing he set out to destroy.

Why see Bring Up the Bodies?

The stage adaptation captures the claustrophobic intensity of Mantel's novel with extraordinary theatrical power. The play builds inexorably towards its devastating conclusion, and the ensemble work brings Tudor court politics to vivid, immediate life. Together with Wolf Hall, this constitutes one of the great achievements of recent British theatre.

Practical information for visitors

Bring Up the Bodies is typically staged alongside Wolf Hall. Check current listings for the latest revival. The play contains themes of political intrigue, judicial murder, and execution, and is best suited for older teenagers and adults.

Similar shows you might enjoy

For more historical drama, Wolf Hall is the essential companion piece. The Lehman Trilogy offers similarly epic scope, and the National Theatre regularly programmes outstanding historical drama.