Anne Boleyn (Shakespeare's Globe)

I managed to wrestle a good monologue out of it. Despite updated language and expressions, Anne Boleyn is average. There are so many fascinating aspects of this woman's life that I keep waiting to see materialize in Play form, however for some reason she always seems to become a bit soft. Anyway, it's a good read. Go ahead and order it.

I enjoyed reading it. It was refreshing to read a story about Anne Boleyn that was both funny and serious. I loved the ending.

I played two characters in this play and I loved it.Cardinal Wolsey was at the beginning a great challenge for this amateur performer.But when I was ask to play James I as well, the challenge became ... jumbo!!Technically it was hard find the way to change all in me to be two different characters on stage ... until I started loving James I.The turning point was when I realized that James I loved Anne and wanted and needed to follow her ideas and aims.James I searches for the real Anne, not the ambitious witch of popular history who schemed her way into a king's bed and ousted the king's first wife, Catherine of Aragon, but a devout Protestant, an English Joan of Arc who saw off the Pope but lost her head in the toxic political machinations of court.Hard but I loved both characters... one of the most greatest experiences in life.Of course I was not James Garnor nor Colin Hurley, but I did my best.Howard Brenton has done a great historical research for this play and the result was awesome.

I enjoyed this play, which focuses on religion in its portrayal of Anne Boleyn. Surprisingly, Howard Brenton's focus is that Anne was a hardcore Protestant, and that the very foundation of her relationship with Henry VIII was based on her desire for religious reform. While entertaining, this theory seemed a bit out there to me, but I enjoyed reading this take on what is usually a very repetitive story about lust and power. The character of Anne Boleyn is portrayed as being incredibly sympathetic...perhaps too much so. Still, it's a refreshing interpretation of the story. I hope to see a staged version one day.

Saw this last night in Darlington Civic Theatre (the Globe/English Touring Theatre touring production).Absolutely fantastic play (inspired me to buy the script and read it again for all the bits I probably missed).The play is very clever the way it weaves stories from two periods and links them altogether with the protestant reformation.Anne Boleyn's story is told and seems to be pretty accurate from what I have read and seen in documentaries although her attractive personality may be due to revisionism as she certainly doesn't seem to have been popular with many people at the time, except for Henry himself.I loved the idea of King James reliving Anne's story through her ghostly presence, and even trying on her coronation dress (!), and the humour of James portrayal is painfully funny to watch -no cliché of s dour Scot here!!I really hope this gets picked up and filmed - though I wouldn't want the Hollywood treatment - keep it simple!If you get the chance go and see the play - if not it is well worth a read.

This play précis the events leading up to the marriage and subsequent execution of Anne Boleyn and also recognises her role in the development of the new Church of England. It takes a very different view of her from that taken by Hilary Mantel and is more accessible partly due to it's brevity and partly by the clear and succinct cases made by the main characters and informative asides from the lesser parts. If you're interested in this period of history the play would be a good introduction to the political and religious tensions of the time.I don't usually read plays but I certainly will again based on this. I also like the way in which the book is laid out. I've picked up a couple of others in the series (notably'Jumpers for Goalposts') and found them equally as enjoyable.

I saw this play (that is what the book is - a play guide without stage directions) peformaed by a local am-dram group. To say I was impressed would hardly be adequate - I was stunned.The play is opened by Ann Boleyn telling us haw she saw her life ending, and the fades into a recreaction of scenes from her last days and all the major characters involved. She neither admits or denys the historical view, but rather leaves us to make up our own mind about her complex character and the problems of her time.Book which are play guides can sometimes be dry and laboured, but I can only say that I was as entranced by reading the book as when I saw the play. Strangely, among the audience on the night I went was a certain Ian Mckellen, who came specifically to see the play!Interesting from both the drama and history aspects it is also a thought provoking read. If you get a chance to see the play - please go - you will enjoy it.

The utilisation of James 1st's haunting by Boleyn allows Brenton to delve into the real, the imaginary, and the symbolic with consummate ease, which, in turn, cultivates a thoroughly intelligent atmosphere that allows for a deeper understanding of the events and people who were instrumental in changing the political and social structures of Britain forever.

Saw this play at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre a few weeks ago and thought it was so good that I went and ordered the play text (something I wouldn't normally do!).It was just as engaging a text as when performed. The play is intelligent and funny. I have a soft-spot for Tudor history and specifically Henry VIII and his wives since I studied it as a child. It may not be 100% historically accurate, but then what drama is!?If you get a chance to see the play then do so. If not, this is a very good book anyway!