Strong portrayals enliven powerful story of integrity

What’s the value of compromise? Of principle? What if a rigid personal code —- sometimes confused with morality —- destroys everything and everyone you love? Is Hell really the worst place out there?

The moral of “A Man for All Seasons” —- an outstanding production running through April 12 at Theatre in the Square in Marietta —- is delivered by the Common Man directly to the audience:

“It isn’t difficult to keep alive, friends —- just don’t make trouble. Or if you must make trouble, make the sort of trouble that’s expected.”

Robert Bolt’s 1960 play (as well as two Hollywood versions) is on the life and execution of Sir Thomas More, sainted by the Catholic Church for refusing to condone the divorce of King Henry VIII. It’s as much costume drama as courtroom thriller, with the infallibly logical More jousting points of law —- winning all of them —- yet getting snared in political traps.

Bolt sprinkles advice on compromise throughout the play, as when a boatman (Chris Ensweiler, who’s also the Common Man) navigates downstream: “The river is silting up, but there’s a channel in the middle that’s getting deeper.”

As Thomas More, John Ammerman underplays the only public figure in 1530s England who won’t go with the flow. Here he’s an everyman, a bureaucrat, the banality of goodness. Believably, he’s a decent husband and loving father. Ammerman’s articulated but not-quite-British accent steers him away from aristocratic airs. It all makes for an inscrutably compelling portrayal.

David Kronawitter is smarmy and perfect as More’s opposite, the opportunist Master Rich, whose corruption leads to power and, by his own standards at least, a successful life.

More’s wife and daughter are also neatly cast —- Holly Stevenson and Cara Mantella —- a combination of headstrong, supportive and fearful.

True to the script, Brik Berkes makes Henry VIII an adolescent in a man’s body, a bit of a brat with a crown atop his head. As More’s prosecutor, Thomas Cromwell, Harrison Long isn’t in league with the others. You can see the seams in his acting.

Even in Robert J. Farley’s direction, though, the play remains dry and loaded with talking points, sometimes weighed down by them. Still, Bolt’s sober exploration of ideas —- how one should live life and the social and political risks of those decisions —- makes for a rewarding night out. It’s a lot to chew on.

With a cast of 11, “A Man For All Seasons” is the biggest show of the season for Theatre in the Square. As the economy continues to slip away, it’s likely to be one of the biggest it will manage for the foreseeable future. See it while you can.

THEATER REVIEW

“A Man for All Seasons”

Grade: A

8 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. 2:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. Sundays. 10:30 a.m. March 25 and 2:30 p.m. April 8. $22-$33. Theatre in the Square, 11 Whitlock Ave., Marietta. 770-422-8369; www.theatreinthesquare.com