A Man for All Seasons charts the final years of the life of Sir Thomas More, sometime Lord High Chancellor of England. Robert Bolt’s play paints a portrait of a man of immense but quiet courage. Ultimately, he lays down his life for a simple principle; that he will not place his hand on a bible and declare that he believes what he does not believe. At any time before the headsman’s axe fell on his neck, he could have chosen to live by telling a small lie. He would not, because in his conscience he located the very essence of his being.

In 1966 Bolt wrote the screenplay for the multi-Oscar winning screen adaptation. Whilst the film was a different creature from the quasi-Brechtian play, both portray dignity and bravery on an epic scale. ‘Hero’ is a much-devalued word. Robert Bolt’s Thomas More is truly heroic.

£14, £12