# Henry VIII, but not Shakespeare
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/henry-viii-but-not-shakespeare/658960
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [May 21, 2013, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/henry-viii-but-not-shakespeare/658960 "2013-05-21T21:09:59Z")
**Posts on this page:** 12
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)
#### Post date: [May 21, 2013, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/henry-viii-but-not-shakespeare/658960/1 "2013-05-21T21:09:59Z")
Google is no help here, or I’m using it wrong. I’m looking for a play about Henry VIII, but not written by the Bard. It was penned, I think, in the mid-20th Century, and traces the life of the murderous king from his first wife to the last. One difference between this play and the Shakespeare version is that as Henry’s life progresses, he also progresses from the 16th Century to the 20th, and at the end he is talking about rocket ships and going to the moon.
I have no idea who the playwright was.
Can anyone help me find this play?
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### Author:  [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)
#### Post date: [May 21, 2013, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/henry-viii-but-not-shakespeare/658960/2 "2013-05-21T22:06:49Z")
Moved from General Questions to Cafe Society.
**samclem** , moderator
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### Author:  [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)
#### Post date: [May 21, 2013, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/henry-viii-but-not-shakespeare/658960/3 "2013-05-21T22:22:13Z")
A Man For All Seasons?
> **[A Man for All Seasons](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Man_for_All_Seasons)**
>
> A Man for All Seasons may refer to:
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### Author:  [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)
#### Post date: [May 21, 2013, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/henry-viii-but-not-shakespeare/658960/4 "2013-05-21T22:31:27Z")
> [@Erdosain](#):
>
> A Man For All Seasons?
>
> [A Man for All Seasons - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Man_for_All_Seasons)
I don’t think so, unless my memory is faulty. I recall it having only one primary male role (Henry) and female roles for each of his wives. It was performed at a St. Louis little theatre ca. 1966. I understand most of the theatre archives were destroyed by fire, so the existing company is not able to help.
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### Author:  [@eclectic\_wench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eclectic_wench)
#### Post date: [May 21, 2013, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/henry-viii-but-not-shakespeare/658960/5 "2013-05-21T22:51:04Z")
That’s not Man for All Seasons.
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### Author:  [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)
#### Post date: [May 21, 2013, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/henry-viii-but-not-shakespeare/658960/6 "2013-05-21T22:52:33Z")
Some possibilities (found in library catalogues):
Cowan, Maurice. The six wives of Henry VIII : the king seen through the eyes of each of his ill-fated wives.
Gressieker, Hermann. Royal gambit : a drama in five acts.
Rowley, Samuel. When you see me you know me, or, The famous chronicle history of King Henrie the Eight [first published in 1621]
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### Author:  [@eclectic\_wench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eclectic_wench)
#### Post date: [May 21, 2013, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/henry-viii-but-not-shakespeare/658960/7 "2013-05-21T22:58:05Z")
Royal Gambit has the[time-progression element](http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2012/sep/08/in-brief-play-offers-new-take-on-henry-viii/), although it’s the wives who progress, not the king:
> [@](#):
>
> SPOKANE VALLEY – Theater Arts for Children will feature “Royal Gambit” Friday and Sept. 15 at 7 p.m. and Sept. 16 at 2 p.m. at the theater, located at 2114 N. Pines Road, Suite 3S.
>
> The play is described as a metaphysical portrait of Henry VIII and the six women in his life, contrasting him as a king, the epitome of a Renaissance man, with modern liberal thought, and concludes that humanism is dead in the 20th century. While the king stays the same, the women progress to modern times.
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### Author:  [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)
#### Post date: [May 21, 2013, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/henry-viii-but-not-shakespeare/658960/8 "2013-05-21T22:58:16Z")
Here’s a preview of [Gressieker’s play](http://books.google.com/books?id=PeCR3hPBYCoC) on Google Books, but it looks as though the English translation wasn’t done till the 80’s or thereabouts.
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### Author:  [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)
#### Post date: [May 21, 2013, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/henry-viii-but-not-shakespeare/658960/9 "2013-05-21T23:15:27Z")
I think _Royal Gambit_ is the one, so I’ll research that. I dispute the Spokane Valley blurb, as I distinctly recall the king talking about rockets at the end in a soliloquy to the audience.
In case anyone wonders, my interest revolves around my involvement in a production of this work. I was responsible for the sound and music, and I used the suggested progression of time as a gimmick. As the play unfolded, I also progressed the music from Gregorian chants, Palestrina, thru baroque, then romantic classical, and at the end, for exit music, I used a synthesizer piece, _Peace Three,_ pretty much the most modern (non-pop) tune available at the time. I still have the music collection on an open-reel tape as used in the play.
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### Author:  [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)
#### Post date: [May 21, 2013, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/henry-viii-but-not-shakespeare/658960/10 "2013-05-21T23:22:07Z")
I found a copy of _Royal Gambit_ for sale cheap, and I’ve ordered it. I am curious why my recollection differs from the blurbs about Henry’s progression thru time, or lack of it. Until I see the play dialogue, I’m guessing that the end soliloquy is distinct from the acts leading up to it, and he makes a jump into modern times when breaking the 4th wall.
Thanks to everyone who helped in this search. SDMB rocks!
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### Author:  [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)
#### Post date: [May 21, 2013, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/henry-viii-but-not-shakespeare/658960/11 "2013-05-21T23:50:08Z")
> [@Musicat](#):
>
> I found a copy of _Royal Gambit_ for sale cheap, and I’ve ordered it. I am curious why my recollection differs from the blurbs about Henry’s progression thru time, or lack of it. Until I see the play dialogue, I’m guessing that the end soliloquy is distinct from the acts leading up to it, and he makes a jump into modern times when breaking the 4th wall.
Sometimes plays are rewritten by the playwright or adapted for a particular performance locale.
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### Author:  [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)
#### Post date: [May 22, 2013, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/henry-viii-but-not-shakespeare/658960/12 "2013-05-22T01:04:21Z")
> [@Giles](#):
>
> Some possibilities (found in library catalogues):
>
> Cowan, Maurice. The six wives of Henry VIII : the king seen through the eyes of each of his ill-fated wives.
>
> Gressieker, Hermann. Royal gambit : a drama in five acts.
>
> Rowley, Samuel. When you see me you know me, or, The famous chronicle history of King Henrie the Eight [first published in 1621]
IIRC, _When You See Me You Know Me_ starts just before Jane Seymour gives birth to the future Edward VI, so it doesn’t include all six wives. (Also, I’m _pretty_ sure there are no rocket ships or voyages to the moon, although Jacobean drama being what it is, it’s not entirely inconceivable :D)