Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall & Bring Up the Bodies Extend in the West End

Don't be surprised if you see these productions crossing the Pond to the Great White Way. The stage adaptations of Hilary Mantel’s award-winning and best-selling novels Wolf Hall and its sequel Bring Up The Bodies will now play in repertory in the West End through October 4. Penned by Mike Poulton and directed by Jeremy Herrin, the critically acclaimed Royal Shakespeare Company productions had been set to end their limited engagement at London's Aldwych Theatre on September 6.

The plays chronicle the rise and fall of Thomas Cromwell from blacksmith's boy to Henry VIII's right-hand-man and premiered at the Swan Theatre in Stratford-Upon-Avon as part of the RSC's winter 2013 season. The cast includes Ben Miles as Cromwell, Nathaniel Parker as Henry VIII, Lydia Leonard as Anne Boleyn, Paul Jesson as Cardinal Wolsey and Lucy Briers as Katherine of Aragon.

Tony winner Mark Rylance and Broadway-bound Damian Lewis are currently filming a TV adaptation of Wolf Hall.