Matthew Byam Shaw, Nia Janis & Nick Salmon for Playful Productions 

and the Royal Shakespeare Company present
Hilary Mantel’s
THE MIRROR AND THE LIGHT
Adapted for the stage by Hilary Mantel and Ben Miles

With Ben Miles and Nathaniel Parker as Thomas Cromwell and Henry VIII
Directed by Jeremy Herrin​

• INITIAL CASTING ANNOUNCED FOR THE MIRROR AND THE LIGHT 
• THE FINAL NOVEL IN THE AWARD-WINNING WOLF HALL TRILOGY IS SET FOR ITS WORLD PREMIERE IN THE WEST END THIS YEAR 
• THE EXHILARATING CONCLUSION HAS BEEN ADAPTED BY DAME HILARY MANTEL AND BEN MILES WHO WILL RETURN TO HIS ROLE AS THOMAS CROMWELL 
• THE WEST END PRODUCTION WILL RUN AT THE GIELGUD THEATRE FROM 23RD SEPTEMBER – 28TH NOVEMBER 

Producers Playful Productions and the Royal Shakespeare Company have announced initial casting for The Mirror and the Light in the West End. The third and final novel in the Wolf Hall trilogy has been adapted for the West End stage by Dame Hilary Mantel and Ben Miles. Jeremy Herrin, who was nominated for an Olivier Award, a Tony Award and won the Evening Standard Award for the first two productions, returns to direct. The world premiere will run at the Gielgud Theatre from Thursday 23rd September for a strictly limited season until Sunday 28th November, with an Opening Night on Wednesday 6th October. Tickets are now on sale at themirrorandthelight.co.uk. 

As previously announced Ben Miles will return to his role as Cromwell to complete the trilogy. Nathaniel Parker joins him, resuming his Olivier Award-winning and Tony Award nominated role as Henry VIII. The full cast of 23 will be the biggest yet in the series, with 13 actors announced today, five of whom – Miles, Parker, Nicholas Boulton (Duke of Suffolk), Matt Pidgeon (Stephen Gardiner) and Giles Taylor (Archbishop Cranmer) – return to their roles in the earlier plays. 

Actors joining the production for the first time include Rosanna Adams (Anna of Cleves), Paul Adeyefa (Christophe), Aurora Burghart (Elizabeth Seymour), Terique Jarrett (Gregory Cromwell), Jordan Kouamé (Rafe Sadler), Geoffrey Lumb (Thomas Wriothesley), Olivia Marcus (Jane Seymour) Tony Turner  (Kingston), Leo Wan (Richard Riche) and Nicholas Woodeson (Duke of Norfolk). Rosanna Adams, Aurora Burghart and Jordan Kouamé are making their professional debuts. Full casting is still to be announced.

The play is the concluding chapter of Mantel’s multi award-winning novels about the rise and fall of Thomas Cromwell, all commissioned and developed for the stage by Playful Productions. The acclaimed Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies were hailed as landmark and must-see theatrical events and sold out their London runs in 2014 after premiering at the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon. 

Mantel recently received the prestigious Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction for The Mirror and the Light, which she also won for Wolf Hall in 2010. Wolf Hall won the Man Booker Prize in 2009, and Bring Up the Bodies won in 2012, making Mantel the first woman ever to have received the award twice. Bring Up the Bodies also won the Costa Novel Award, the first time the same novel has won both this and the Man Booker. 

The trilogy charts the riveting rise and fall of Thomas Cromwell in the ruthless court of Henry VIII.

England, 1536. Anne Boleyn’s fate has been sealed by the executioner. Jane Seymour must deliver King Henry a healthy heir. And to the disgust of Henry’s nobles, Thomas Cromwell continues his ruthless ascent from the gutters of Putney to the highest rank beside his master. But Cromwell is vulnerable and his enemies are poised to strike.

The further you climb, the harder you fall.

The production features scenic and costume design by Christopher Oram who won both Olivier and Tony Awards for his work on Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies, lighting design by Jessica Hung Han Yun, music by Stephen Warbeck and sound design by Nick Powell.

Ben Miles (Thomas Cromwell)
Theatre credits include: The Lehman Trilogy (also Park Avenue Armory, New York and West End); Sunset at the Villa Thalia, The Cherry Orchard, The London Cuckolds, Mary Stuart, Macbeth, Trelawny of the Wells, Fuente Ovejuna (National Theatre); Wolf Hall / Bring Up the Bodies (Tony Award nomination, Broadway and West End); Two Gentlemen of Verona, Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet (Royal Shakespeare Company); Love Love Love, My Child (Royal Court Theatre); Measure for Measure, The Tower (Almeida Theatre); The Norman Conquests (also Broadway), Richard II (Old Vic); Hand in Hand to the Promised Land (Hampstead Theatre); The Miser (Chichester Festival Theatre); The Winter’s Tale (Young Vic); The Tempest, Betrayal (Harold Pinter Theatre). Television credits include: The Trial of Christine Keeler, The Capture, Devils, The Romanoffs, The Last Post, The Crown, The Hollow Crown, The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher, Zen, The Promise, Trial and Retribution, Sea of Souls, After Thomas, Under the Greenwood Tree, Mr. Harvey Lights a Candle, A Thing Called Love, Prime Suspect, The Forsythe Saga and Cold Feet. Film credits include: Red Joan, The Catcher was a Spy, Woman in Gold, Five Years, Ninja Assassin, Speed Racer, V for Vendetta and Imagine Me and You.  

Nathaniel Parker (Henry VIII)
Theatre credits include: Wolf Hall and Bring Up The Bodies (Stratford, Aldwych, Broadway. Olivier Award Winner, Tony, What’s On Stage and Drama League nominee); An Ideal Husband (Vaudeville); This House (Garrick); The Audience (Gielgud); Quartermaine’s Terms (UK Tour); Speed The Plow (Duke Of York’s); 50 Revolutions (Oxford Stage Company), The Merchant of Venice (Phoenix & Broadway); Romeo and Juliet (Young Vic); A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Storm, Every Man In His Humour, The Winter’s Tale, Richard II and The Rover (all for the RSC). Television credits include: The Inspector Lynley Mysteries, Of Kings And Prophets, The Outcast, Me And Mrs Jones, Still Life, Merlin, Injustice, A Confession, Grantchester, Lewis, Land Girls, Hotel Babylon, A Class Apart, Nuremberg, Bleak House, Pretending To Be Judith, Trust, McCallum, Vanity Fair, Far From The Madding Crowd, Death On Everest, David, Wizards, A Village Affair, Dangerous Games, Heroes, The Black Candle, Without Walls, The Vision Thing, Awayday, Look At It This Way, Absolute Hell, Poirot, Never Come Back, Inspector Morse and Piece Of Cake. He can currently be seen in Amazon’s La Templanza and will next be seen in Scott Free and New Regency’s The Beast Must Die alongside Jared Harris. Film credits include:Swimming With Men, Ophelia, Swords & Sceptres, The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader, Miss Irena’s Children, The Perfect Host, Malice In Wonderland, Flawless, Stardust, Fade To Black, Annabel Lee (also Producer), Haunted Mansion, Lover’s Prayer, Beverly Hills Ninja, Othello, Unsigned, The Bodyguard, Indian Warrior, Wide Sargasso Sea, Hamlet and War Requiem. He will next be seen in Ridley Scott’s The Last Duel alongside Ben Affleck, Matt Damon and Jodie Comer. 

Rosanna Adams (Anna of Cleves)
Rosanna is a 2020 graduate of the Oxford School of Drama. This is her professional debut.

Paul Adeyefa (Christophe)
Theatre credits include: Women Beware Women (The Globe); A Midsummer Nights Dream (The Bridge Theatre); The Dark Room (Theatre 503); The Window/Blank pages (Pleasance Theatre/Mingled Yarn); Result (Sketty); Henry VI: Play of Thrones (Union Theatre); The Duchess of Malfi (The Dryden Society); Doctor Faustus (The Marlowe Society); Angels in America – Part One – Millennium and A Street Car Names Desire (CUADC). Television credits include: Bancroft; The Bay; A Scottish Soldier; Good Omens; Ransom; DCI Banks; Cucumber. Film credits include: Chubby Funny.

Nicholas Boulton​ (Duke Of Suffolk)
Theatre credits include: Pato in The Beauty Queen of Leenane (Hull Truck/Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch); Imperium Parts I & II (Gielgud); Wolf Hall and Bring up the Bodies (RSC/West End); Henry V (RSC); The Prince and the Pauper (Unicorn); Private Lives, Restoration, Hysteria, The Double Inconstancy and An Ideal Husband (Salisbury Playhouse); Mirandolina (Royal Exchange); The Taming of the Shrew (national tour); A Chaste Maid in Cheapside, Platonov (Almeida); M. Butterfly (Singapore Rep); She Stoops to Conquer (Northcott, Exeter); After the Rain (Gate); Arcadia (Haymarket); Antonio’s Revenge (Chelsea Arts). Television credits include: Cursed, Benidorm, Casualty, Midsomer Murders, Hustle, Doctors, Doc Martin, Jonathan Creek, Atilla – Warriors, Doctor Who, Firma, Broken News, Heartbeat, Life Begins, The Infinite World of HG Wells, Sword of Honour, Wonderful You, Kavanagh QC. Film credits include: Queen Maria of Romania, Seven, 6 Days,  Abominable Snowman, Deadly Descent, Arn: the Knight Templar, The Kovak Box, Topsy-Turvy, Shakespeare in Love. Radio credits include: Sword of Honour, Antony and Cleopatra, The Seagull, King Lear.

Aurora Burghart (Elizabeth Seymour)
Aurora is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). This is her West End debut. Television credits include: The Stranger and October Faction (Netflix) and There She Goes (BBC Two).

Terique Jarrett (Gregory Cromwell)
Theatre credits include: Our Town (Regents Park Open Air Theatre); The Winter’s Tale (National Theatre); Motown the Musical (Shaftesbury Theatre).  Television credits include: Moon Night and  Find me in Paris.

Jordan Kouamé (Rafe Sadler)
Theatre credits include Common (National Theatre). Jordan has just graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA). This is his professional debut since graduating.

Geoffrey Lumb (Thomas Wriothesley)
Theatre credits include: Much Ado About Nothing (Tobacco Factory/Wilton’s); Tartuffe (National Theatre); This House (National Theatre tour); King Charles III (UK tour and Sydney Australia); Much Ado About Nothing (Lamb Players);Macbeth and Twelfth Night (Filter Theatre Company); Prophesy and Macbeth  (Baz Theatre Productions); Chekhov in Hell (Soho Theatre/Drum Plymouth); Romeo and Juliet (US tour); His Dark Materials (Birmingham Rep/West Yorkshire Playhouse); Rendition Monologues (Bridewell Theatre/Queen Elizabeth Hall); The Changeling (ETT); Much Ado About Nothing, Romeo and Juliet, King John, The Taming of The Shrew, The American Pilot, The Comedy of Errors, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Troilus and Cressida, Vice Versa and Coriolanus (RSC); Hansel & Gretel (Northampton Theatre Royal); Twelfth Night (ETT). Television credits include: Vera, Holby City, 24: Live Another Day, Doctors, Hollyoaks, Luther, Europe’s Secret Armies. Film credits include: Paddington 2.

Olivia Marcus (Jane Seymour)
Theatre credits include: Everything Must Go – R&D (These Girls Theatre); The Wolf of Wall Street (Hartshorn-Hook Productions); Predrinks/Afterparty (Mack and Salt); Lord of the Flies (Theatr Clwyd/Sherman Theatre); Nobody (Theare Uncut: Cardiff). Television and radio credits include: Sath Lets Flats, Kate & Koji, Arden of Faversham (BBC Radio 3).

Matthew Pidgeon (Eustache Chapuys)
Theatre credits include: Bitter Wheat (Garrick); Local Hero (Royal Lyceum Edinburgh); This House (National Theatre/ Chichester/ Garrick/ UK tour); Salome (RSC); The James Plays (National Theatre of Scotland, UK and world tour); Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies (RSC/West End/Broadway); Edward II (National Theatre); Midsummer (Traverse Theatre, UK and world tour); Much Ado About Nothing and The Mysteries (Shakespeare’s Globe); The Wonderful World of Dissocia, Realism and Caledonia (National Theatre of Scotland); The Lying Kind (Royal Court). Television credits include: Life After Life, Crime, Casualty, Holby City, Taggart, Rockface, Fiona’s Story. Film credits include: Daphne, A Shot at Glory, State and Main, The Winslow Boy.

Giles Taylor (Archbishop Cranmer)
Theatre credits include: Witness For The Prosecution (West End); Wonderland (Nottingham/Northern Stage); Shakespeare in Love (UK tour); King Charles III (UK tour & Sydney); This House (National Theatre/West End/Chichester Festival Theatre); Twelfth Night, A Christmas Carol, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, The Merchant of Venice, Talk of the City (RSC); Wolf Hall, Bring Up The Bodies (RSC, West End, Broadway); An Ideal Husband, The Way of the World, The Music Man (Chichester Festival Theatre); After The Dance (National Theatre); Travesties, The Importance of Being Earnest, (Birmingham Rep); The Wizard of Oz, The Secret Garden (West Yorkshire Playhouse/Birmingham Rep); Blithe Spirit (Nottingham Playhouse); Waste (Almeida Theatre); Othello, Relative Values (Salisbury Playhouse); Longitude (Greenwich Theatre); The Duchess of Malfi (New Victoria, Stoke); Macbeth, Lady Be Good, Twelfth Night, Cymbeline, HMS Pinafore, Much Ado About Nothing, The Pirates of Penzance, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Merry Wives of Windsor, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (Regents Park Open Air Theatre); Neville’s Island, Dreams from a Summer House (Watermill Theatre, Newbury); Whenever (Stephen Joseph, Scarborough); Summer Lightning, Dangerous Corner (Royal Theatre, Northampton).

Television and film credits include: Tom and Viv, Orlando, Victoria, The Musketeers, Mr Selfridge, Foyle’s War, Stuart: A Life Backwards, Stephen Poliakoff’s Friends and Crocodiles, Sentenced, Karaoke, Wycliffe, Lindsay Anderson’s Is That All There Is?, Scarlet and Black and The Princess Switch.

Tony Turner (Kingston)
Theatre credits include: The Visit (National Theatre); This House (Chichester and UK tour); Ink (Almeida Theatre/Duke of York’s Theatre); This House (Chichester Festival Theatre/Garrick Theatre);The Damned United (West Yorkshire Playhouse); The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time (National Theatre); The School for Scheming (Orange Tree Theatre); Journey’s End (Duke of York’s Theatre/UK Tour); Personal Enemy (Brits off Broadway). Television credits include: Quiz, Delicious, Doctors, WPC 56, Call the Midwife, Downtown Abbey, Loving Miss Hatto, Holby City, Silk. Radio credits include: The Trial of the Well of Loneliness and The Archers.

Leo Wan (Richard Riche)
Theatre credits include: Miss Julie (Storyhouse); As You Like It, The Taming of the Shrew (RSC); The Great Wave (National Theatre); Shakespeare Within the Abbey and Sonnet Walks (Shakespeare’s Globe); Forgotten 遗忘, Tamburlaine (Arcola Theatre); The Spanish Tragedy (Old Red Lion); Das Ding and The Rover (New Diorama Theatre); Jekyll & Hyde (Southwark Playhouse). Television credits include: Crashing. Radio credits include: Death at the Airport, Lights! Camera! Kidnap!, Prime Cut, Tracks, Look Who’s Back, The Periodic Table, Memsahib Emma.

Nicholas Woodeson (Duke of Norfolk)
Theatre includes: The Visit (National Theatre); The Pope (Royal & Derngate); The Room (Harold Pinter Theatre); Death of a Salesman (Royal and Derngate); The Audience (West End); Twelfth Night (Everyman Theatre); Chariots of Fire (Hampstead Theatre/West End), The Homecoming (RSC); Rocket To The Moon (National Theatre); Von Ribbentrop’s Watch (Watford Palace Theatre); An Inspector Calls (West End); Mary Stuart (Broadway); Moonlight & Magnolias (Tricycle Theatre); The Birthday Party (Lyric Hammersmith). Television includes: Quiz, Baptiste, Taboo, Will, Delicious, Holby City, The Living And The Dead, Friday Night Dinner, Letters From Baghdad, The Eichmann Show, George Gently, Mapp And Lucia, New Tricks, The Honourable Woman, Poirot, The Assets, Borgia, Moonfleet, The Escape Artist, Ripper Street, Silk, Shameless, Loving Miss Hatto, Borgen, Foyle’s War, Doc Martin, 11th Hour and Rome. Film includes: Firebird, Jarhead 4,  The Hustle , Disobedience,  Beirut, The Death of Stalin, Paddington 2, Limehouse Golem, Race, The Danish Girl, Mr Turner, Skyfall, Hannah Arendt, Hysteria, John Carter, Pope Joan and Conspiracy.