A series of emblematic scenes in the relationship of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, starting with his disruption of her plans to marry the Earl of Northumberland and ending with his disruption of her plans to continue breathing. In Act I, she hates him, he loves her and he wins her love by giving her the world. In Act II she loves him, he hates her and he, somehow, retains her love by taking everything away from her. It just goes to illustrate the old adage that I just made up -- 'When a man loses his heart, he loses his pocketbook. When a woman loses her heart, she loses her head.' The play is written in alternating prose and free verse, making it resemble, on the page, something like a libretto, with long pages of recitative interspersed with arias, duets and ensembles. I've never seen a performance (should probably rent the film with Richard Burton & Genvieve Bujold), so I wonder how that compositional affectation actually plays itself out on the stage. ( )