By Taylor Smith

Photographs Courtesy of the Royal Shakespeare Company

Writer Hilary Mantel has claimed the Man Booker, Olivier, Tony, and BAFTA Awards for her novels Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies. Working with dramatist Michael Poulton and director Jeremy Herrin, Mantel brings the story of Henry VIII and his lascivious Tudor Court to the New York Stage.

The play has already experienced several sold out runs in London’s West End and opened on April 9, 2015 on Broadway. A BBC TV version is also currently being filmed. The play is broken into two parts to reflect Mantel’s two separate novels; Wolf Hall serves as Part I and Bring Up the Bodies as Part II.

Mantel and Poulton have succeeded in translating almost 1,300 written pages into a theater production running 5 hours and 30 minutes. This impressively compact adaptation is presented by The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) of Stratford-upon-Avon. Every member of The RSC seeks to create a vibrant world on stage, from the actors to the costume designers and technicians. Past RSC productions on Broadway include Les Miserables (1987-2003 and 2006), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1971 and 1996), Les Liaisons Dangereuses (1987), to mention just a few.

Multi-part staged productions are not unheard of on Broadway, but they are an event not to be missed. The last sweeping historical epic that ran on Broadway was Tom Stoppard’s The Coast of Utopia, which won the Tony for best play in 2007. Alan Aychbourn’s The Norman Conquests won the Tony Award for best revival of a play in 2009.

British and American TV audiences will immediately recognize actor Ben Miles from his appearances in “The Forsyte Saga,” “Coupling,” and “The Government Inspector.” Miles takes center stage as secretary Thomas Cromwell who coldly sends several people to their death in order to delay his own fate.

Nathaniel Parker portrays King Henry VIII, alongside Paul Jesson as Cardinal Wolsey, Lydia Leonard as Anne Boleyn, Lucy Briers as Katherine of Aragon, and Leah Brotherhead as Jane Seymour.

Wolf Hall/Bring Up the Bodies is expected to run for a limited time only through early July 2015. Ticket prices represent admission to both Parts I and II. To purchase, contact the Winter Garden Theatre Box Office at 212.239.6200. For additional information, visit wolfhallbroadway.com.