Synopsis Across an 80 year divide, two men translate the word of God into the English tongue. For one, it means death at the stake. For the other, it could mean an archbishop's mitre. After almost a century of unrest, the King James Bible was intended to end the violent upheavals of the English reformation. But deep-seated conflicts force a leading translator to confront the betrayal of his youthful religious ideals, for the sake of social peace.
You might think that a play about the creation of the translation for the King James Bible might not be the stuff of great drama but, when placed in the capable hands of David Edgar, you would be wrong. With Written on the Heart, he has created a taut and fluent play which maps the struggles of those involved in the evolution of this iconic text.
What impresses most about the piece is the way that the human stories of the contributors, their motivations and desires are interwoven into a play that explores the power of language to both control and set free the individual. It is a work of great humanity, warm humour and intellectual honesty.
Following the successes this season of Cardenio and The City Madam, the Royal Shakespeare Company has again delivered a very fine production in the Swan Theatre. Gregory Doran directs with a great deal of clarity and strength of purpose – allowing the individual voices to speak out. The scenes with Tyndale (a powerful performance from Stephen Boxer) are at the emotional heart of the piece and are absolutely compelling.
Doran secures very strong performances from his cast: Oliver Ford Davies gives yet another magisterial interpretation of what could, in lesser hands, have been a very dry character. Other notable contributions come from Jamie Ballard (whose Angelo in the forthcoming Measure for Measure will be much anticipated on the strength of his Chaplain) and Mark Quartley – making his RSC debut – will certainly be someone to watch in future years.
Tim Mitchell has created a stunning lighting design for the production – it almost overshadows the elegant and effective set by Francis O’Connor (which is a thing of beauty itself). As ever, the RSC technical and creative teams have lived up to the high expectations demanded by the company and audiences.
All in all, this is a very impressive piece of work that celebrates the language of the King James Bible whilst also paying homage to the decades of work that went into its creation.
Will it live on after this production? That is harder to say. It is a great contribution to this anniversary year and is an accomplished piece of theatre but will it live as long as the work it commemorates? Maybe not. It is still well worth your attention – yet again, the Swan is outshining the RST.
My son and I saw this last night, not knowing at all what to expect. Between us we knew just enough of the history to make sense of what we saw and learned far more. The acting was so compelling it was difficult at times not to contribute to the arguments on stage. The set was hauntingly lovely and Stephen Boxer's portrayal of Tyndale extraordinary. We've spent the day talking about the play and were caught, groupie-like and gawping when Oliver Ford-Davies walked past our hotel this morning. I'm actually not always all that keen on theatre, but this was wonderful. - Melinda Derry
31 Dec 11
An excellent evening. The premise of the play probably seems dull until you actually go and see it.Stephen Boxer brilliantly conveyed William Tyndale's passion for a bible that a ploughboy could read.The tension between church and state and the power struggles amongst the clergy were excellently shown. - Rose Evans
12 Nov 11
I think the RSC would be wise to take this baby to London. With two seasoned stars on the bill, and a world class playwright premiereing here his best work in 10 years, take it into London and see what happens. It's terrific now - what will it be like in the spring? - Marvin
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