The Lion In Winter
The Lion In Winter
By James Goldman
Directed by Katrina Ploof
Starring Sam Hazell, Peg O’Keefe, and Christian Kelty
Mad Cow Theatre, Orlando, FL</strong>
It’s good to be king. It’s good, but not easy. Henry the Second (Hazell) nearly pulled off a trick that only Julius Caesar and a bunch of Belgian bureaucrats every accomplished – uniting Western Europe. Through a nifty marriage and a few battles, he ruled over most of the important lands west of the Rhine and Alps, but now faced the issue of corporate succession. His favorite is John (Alexander Ferguson), young, sallow, and shallow. A better choice might be Richard (Kelty) a sullen and crafty warrior, not given to humor or romance or humoring the incompetent. A middle choice could be Geoffrey (Steven lane) he’s the born diplomat and conniver, but there’s no final decision without the consent of Henry’s wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine (O’Keefe). She controls the Aquitaine, essentially the wealthy south of France. Along for the ride is Alais (Sarah Lockhard) Henry mistress and sister to the King-of-What’s-Left-of-France Phillip (Adam DelMedico). There’s a nice set of tensions for you, and the only thing more I can add is everybody is out to nail everybody else, most of these people pass through the dungeon, and alliances shift faster than the graphics on Monday Night Football.
This show flies along, and you’ll have to hold on hard to keep up with whom really wants what to happen. Hazel’s Henry is a lusty, driven man with a sense of megalomania, and O’Keefe’s Eleanor is proud but frustrated, willing to fight to the end. She has little else to do, and her righteous anger presents itself in her oratorical style. Kelty is sullen and simmers violence, and Lane was born a millennia too soon – he’d have done well trading bonds or refinancing the housing market. The innocents are John and Alias. John feels too childlike to be a consideration to run even a small dukedom, but Alais is the prototypical battered bride – she’s accept anything from the man she loves, even if she knows he’s unlikely to deliver any of his long term promises.
While there’s a certain unreality in the twists and turns of Lion in Winter, it reflects the power politics of the late dark ages. Kingship was a rather tenuous position, the barons and minor nobility held the real power since they raise the armies the king needed to fight, and unless they thought they were treated well, revolt or simply showing up on the wrong side of the battle line was an option. Just to put these people in context, Henry was grandson of William the Conqueror, Richard was known as Lion Hearted and lead the third crusade, and John signed the Magna Charta. This was a completely dysfunctional family, torn apart by internal dissention that will make your Thanksgiving dinner look calm. Slice the turkey and then hide the knives if this crew shows up Thursday.
For more information on Mad Cow, please visit http://www.madcowtheatre.com
