Soldiers of mutiny rattle blunt sabres as the good ship FF drifts out to sea

A WONDERFUL moment in a wonderful play. It’s the point in A Man for All Seasons where Thomas More faces the evidence trumped up against him to get him beheaded and rid Henry VIII of a turbulent priest who will not countenance the monarch divorcing his wife.

Blinking in unaccustomed light after months of incarceration in the Tower of London, More watches as his former servant, Richard Rich, played with vile venality in the movie by John Hurt, swaggers into the courtroom as More has never seen him, dressed in brocade and wearing a chain, to give the testimony that will end More’s hopes of survival.

When the deed is done, More politely asks permission to approach Rich and, touching the gold chain around the witness’s neck, asks him its significance. Rich defiantly says that he’s been given regal authority over Wales. The inference is inescapable — this is the payoff for his treachery. More smiles sadly.