A Man for All Seasons

The tensions between Church and State, that played out so vividly last week, are reenacted in their 16th century form, here in "A Man for All Seasons," as my friend, Patti Richards, so ably noted last night.  The famous standoff between Henry VIII and his Chancellor, Thomas More, over Henry's divorce from Catherine of Aragon, staged by the Stony Hill Players, is powerfully played by an adept ensemble. Working  with simple scenery and props, and an engaging performance by Dennis Ryan as Sir Thomas More, any fan of Philipa Gregory and her The Other Bolyn Girl will enjoy this take on the same situation.  Other noteworthy performances, and they all cannot be mentioned here, include Randy Parker as the Duke of Norfolk, Alan Kendall as the perjuror, Richard Rich (does the fact that I wanted to boo when he took his curtain call attest to his believable performance of this cad?) and Sandye Rudnitsky as More's wife, Lady Alice.  Go see this show, which plays today, Sunday, Feb 12 and Sunday Feb 19 at 3 p.m., and on Fri and Sat, Feb 17 and 18 at 7:30.