POLITICAL intrigue and double dealing are nothing new, as shown in Robert Bolt's A Man For All Seasons.

Deal brokering to serve vested interest was being done between the royal court and a complicit Roman Catholic Church centuries back.

The issue central to the play is how far one man is prepared to go to appease his monarch on the one hand while remaining true to his God on the other.

Sir Thomas More, as played by Martin Shaw, comes across as possibly the most adept political operator of his time, treading that fine line between his national duty and his higher calling.

All goes well until his king wants out of a marriage - to Catherine of Aragon - that is failing to produce his cherished son and heir.

The pressure More is put under by the king - pretty much a case of I'm Henry the Eighth, I am - begins to mount as it becomes painfully clear to all that the monarch will have his way - and heads will roll - literally - if people are unprepared to do his bidding.

Both inspiring and tragic, A Man For All Seasons is excellent theatre, with Shaw an engaging More, whose portrayal shows wit and humour in the man, when it would be too easy to descend into self-indulgent piety.

A Man For all Seasons runs until this Saturday.

Review by PETER McMILLAN