The Lion in Winter

James Goldman’s powerful play THE LION IN WINTER was a good choice for NOMADS and they fielded a strong cast.   

Set during Christmas 1183 at Henry II if England's castle in Chinon, ANjou, Angevin Empire,  the play opens with the arrival of Henry's wife Eleanor of Aquitaine, whom he has had imprisoned since 1173. The story concerns the gamesmanship between Henry, Eleanor, their three surviving sons  Richard, Geoffrey and John and their Christmas Court guest, the King of France, Phillip II. Also involved is Philip's half-sister Alais, who has been at court since she was betrothed to Richard at age eight, but has since become Henry's mistress.

So there we have the protagonists, none of whom had many redeeming features but all of whom gave us two hours of fairly lively and, at times, humorous rhetoric which kept us on our toes on who to believe or otherwise.  

Henry and Eleanor’s three sons, all with little filial affection, and vying to be named the next king could scarcely be more different  

Eleanor’s favourite, Richard, played by Kris Camden was fierce, warlike, and incredibly ambitious. This was a good performance although I would have liked to have seen a bit more light and shade in delivery, particularly in the scenes with Eleanor.  Henry’s initial choice to succeed himself is, for some reason, the selfish, sulky 16-year-old John (well characterised by David Philpott), John is weak and easily manipulated by the middle bother and the brains of the trio the ruthless and opportunistic Geoffrey (beautifully underplayed by Matthew Tatum),

All the characters are ruthless and manipulative, including Henry’s mistress, Alais (Kathy Bullock). Her tender scenes with Henry had great empathy but soon her ruthless streak came through and this was shown well. . Alais' brother, Philip, the young king of France (well portrayed by Jamie Maguire) was soon playing them all at their own game of manoeuvres 

The main focus however is on the no-holds-barred battle of wits between the British king and Eleanor of Aquitaine, superbly played by Kate Nolan, the wife and queen whom Henry has kept imprisoned for a decade but has now been trotted out for the holiday.  Anthony Sully cut a rugged figure with a fine performance as the grey-bearded king of England.  Henry and Eleanor are at odds over which of their three sons will get to succeed him when he dies, but these performances clearly showed that what actually lies beneath the royal duo’s verbal jousting and political manoeuvring is an undying love of the game, and, very possibly, each other.  These were two very strong performances.

The impressive stage design reflected the austere atmosphere of the period, with the addition of tapestries and curtains to create different rooms in the castle.The production was further enhanced by some excellent period costumes and good atmospheric lighting.

Though wordy, this was a thought-provoking evening of theatre and a production of which directors Kevin La Porte and John Mitchell should be justly proud.

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