Wolf Hall

Books aren’t medicine. They’re more powerful than that

30 April 2016 9:00 am

If we claim books can heal, we must accept they can also harm

History is the art of making things up. Why pretend otherwise?

31 January 2015 9:00 am

In a recent interview, the celebrity historian and Tudor expert David Starkey described Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall as a ‘deliberate…

Dark thoughts: Mark Rylance as Thomas Cromwell

Could it be that Wolf Hall is actually the teeniest bit dull?

31 January 2015 9:00 am

In January 1958, the British government began working on the significantly titled Operation Hope Not: its plans for what to…

The Thomas Cromwell plays would be stronger if they made him weaker 

18 January 2014 9:00 am

Three things you might not expect of the RSC’s adaptation of Hilary Mantel’s Tudor novels. First, Mike Poulton’s plays have…

How to think like Chekhov or Turgenev

30 November 2013 9:00 am

Immersion is the key to adaptation says Mike Poulton, who is bringing Turgenev and Hilary Mantel’s novels to the stage