Review - Anne Boleyn: The Musical dazzles as it makes its World Premiere at Hever Castle

When Anne Boleyn stood upon the scaffold at the Tower of London on 19th May 1536, and made her final speech, she is said to have beseeched “and if any person meddle in my cause, I require them to judge the best”. In Anne Boleyn: The Musical this has certainly been done.

All photography courtesy of Daniel Watson

Produced by Belgian-based theatre company Historalia Productions, Anne Boleyn: The Musical is performed on an incredible 1,800 seat custom built outdoor auditorium in the grounds of with Hever Castle. This imaginative and immersive piece of historical theatre sees the castle itself - famous as Anne Boleyn's childhood home - act as unique backdrop, guarding and overseeing this retelling of its most famous daughter.

The setting is immensely evocative, and when the show begins with Anne walking purposefully across the lawn, in front of her childhood home, you know you are about to watch something very special. As the curtain rises on the second half, night falls and the growing darkness around the stage beautifully mirrors the growing darkness around Anne’s queenship, as she and Henry fall out of love and circumstances conspire against her. It is an excellent, sympathetic and very clever use of the beauty of Hever Castle, and the outdoor setting.

As a historian with a particular research focus on portrayals of Anne Boleyn, I was intrigued - and perhaps a little apprehensive. Whilst historical accuracy in language and costuming does not an amazing musical make (think of SIX, with it’s joyous and arguably best portrayal of the wives of Henry VIII in years), this production was incredibly accurate without sacrificing any of drama or emotion.

Playwright Rebecca Knight cleverly interweaves moments from history, using speeches, letters and annotations from prayer books as lines in the play, but also imbues the production with a modern sensibility which works well with the musical genre. The songs (composed by Sam Gevers, with lyrics by Rebecca Knight and Sam Kenyon) move the plot along brilliantly, sweeping the audience along in a pacy and tight race through Anne’s life. The costuming is accurate and furthers the storytelling - for example Anne Boleyn wears the glamorous and flattering French hood, whilst Katherine of Aragon maintains the traditional, and far less sexy, gable hood.

Emily Lane’s portrayal of Anne was incredibly sympathetic. Her Anne is kind, clever, determined, brave, steady and deeply driven. In a play performed of her childhood home, it is understandable that her virtues are brought to the front, and some of her negative traits - her caustic tongue and habit of behaving over-mighty when Queen - are set aside for a much softer Anne. Her relationship with her nurse Joan (played beautifully by Kim Ismay), and daughter, Elizabeth are particularly touching, and I was in tears when she sang her lullaby to Elizabeth, You. Emily Lane’s comedic timing was faultless and her voice is one of the most incredible voices I have had the privilege of hearing live. I think Anne would have liked her portrayal immensely.

Mark Goldthorp's Henry was well done, playing the gallant and somewhat laughable lovesick fool in the first half, before moving seamlessly to the terrifying, pained, insecure, traumatised and traumatising tyrant of his later years. Henry’s sea-changing moods are hard to portray, and Goldthorp does it exceptionally well. His vocal range gave a nice nod to the fact Henry, perhaps surprisingly, had a higher range too.

George Boleyn, an often overlooked historical character, was imbued with all the confidence and swagger needed by Joshua Oakes-Rogers, and the sibling chemistry he created with Emily Lane’s Anne was incredibly believable. In one lovely moment, George and Anne glance at one of Henry’s love letters and laugh. It is a fleeting moment, happening away from the main action of the song, but it foreshadows a moment in the 1536 “trial” (a trial which was of course a trial in name only) of George Boleyn, where Cromwell accused him and Anne of mocking the King’s virility. Cromwell handed George a letter outlining this charge, telling him not to read it aloud - which George immediately did so, scuppering any chance he ever had of being found innocent of treason.

If Anne Boleyn: The Musical has Anne as its virtuous and faultless heroine, it needs a monster to bring her down, and it gives us that in Cromwell. He is an intimidating physical presence, strong, clever, quick and dangerous. He looms over the set, a spider waiting for his victims to fall into his net. This is not the flawed, anxious, clever, political Cromwell of Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall; this is a man who is evil personified and Matt Bond delivers a truly frightening performance with a daunting stage presence, a villain writ large.

The show is visually dazzling, cleverly written and tells a clear and sympathetic story of Anne Boleyn’s life. It makes incredible use of its unique setting. When Anne Boleyn addresses us at the end, calling her daughter and the future Queen Elizabeth I of England, “her equal, her sequel”, we see a figure of Elizabeth behind her riding in front of the childhood home of her mother on a white horse. It is a moment which could only be performed there, under the stars at Hever Castle. I had tears in my eyes and shivers down my spine at that moment - a mark of great theatre and great storytelling.

There was one tiny historical inaccuracy that caught my eye - at the end of the first half, two portraits are revealed. One is a copy of Hans Holbein's Henry VIII. The other is a copy of Katheryn Parr, by an unknown artist which hangs in the National Gallery. At first I was confused at this anachronistic choice. But now I think I understand - in the child’s rhyme, Parr is the one who “survived”. But it is Anne Boleyn who has captured our imagination for over 500 years; it is her story we return to again and again. It is Anne who has survived, as this remarkable musical makes clear. It runs till the end of August, and if you have any interest in either the Tudors or musicals, I urge you to go. It’s an evening you won’t forget.

Tickets are available for Anne Boleyn: The Musical via the Historalia wesbite