‘Wolf Hall’ and ‘Bring Up the Bodies’: Six hours of Tudors

“The King called me this morning — early.” “What did he want?” “A son.” And with that, we’re off. Off to “Wolf Hall” and “Bring Up the Bodies,” the Royal Shakespeare Company’s celebrated two-part, six-hour costume drama and historical entertainment about King Henry VIII’s infamous habit of discarding wives who can’t produce a male heir. Based on Hilary Mantel’s two prizewinning books, this prestige event of the Broadway season offers straightforward storytelling, finely wrought performances and yards upon yards of magnificent 16th century costumes. An admirable acting Olympiad is led by Ben Miles’ smooth and shrewd portrayal of Thomas Cromwell, the blacksmith’s son who rose to consigliere of the Tudor court. For all the marathon’s heft, however, this is not a perception-altering import comparable to the Globe Theatre’s pair of all-male Shakespeare plays, starring Mark Rylance, in 2013, nor the RSC’s own eight-hour “Nicholas Nickleby” from the ’80s. The plays, directed handsomely but unsurprisingly by Jeremy Herrin, begin with the actors formally arranging themselves and sweeping through a Renaissance dance on a bare stage with granite panels. (The simple sets and meticulously elaborate costumes are by Christopher Oram.)