As a special holiday treat, the Ensemble Theater Company will offer a new production of James Goldman’s witty historical pageant The Lion in Winter, directed by Jenny Sullivan.
Performances will star Stephanie Zimbalist as Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine and Eric Pierpoint as King Henry II, with Thea Brooks (Princess Alais of France), Paul David Story (King Philip of France), Daniel Stewart (Prince John), Matthew Floyd Miller (Prince Geoffrey) and Rick Cosnett (Prince Richard the Lionheart).
With its shifting liaisons and alliances within a large, eccentric family, The Lion in Winter has much in common with Noel Coward’s giddy comedy Hay Fever, not to mention that still-growing number of dysfunctional-family-home-for-the-holidays movies wherein the generations confront each other with a lifetime of missed opportunities and petty crimes, only to be tearfully reconciled by singing a song only one or two of them would have ever heard before. It was Goldman’s stroke of genius to take these two proven formulas, mix them together with a bit of over-the-counter Sigmund Freud, and set the whole thing down in a dank medieval castle in 1183.
Eleanor of Aquitaine (1122/4-1204) was in every way an extraordinary person — a princess, ruler in her own right of some of the richest lands in Europe, she was also, in succession, Queen of France then Queen of England, mother of three kings, scholar, athlete and cultural patroness of unparalleled influence. Her court at Poitiers was the primary distribution point for the poetry of courtly love. When she married the Duke of Normandy — later King Henry II — they were as close to being equals as it was possible to be in the man’s world of the 12th century. If anything, Henry was the junior partner, and not just because he was ten years younger than his new wife.
They were the two most powerful personalities of the age, they were married to each other and the sparks flew. Those sparks make up the essence of The Lion in Winter, which doesn’t and can’t do adequate justice to the richness of their personalities, but is nevertheless an arch and funny evening’s entertainment.
I must say that, having been a devoted fan of Zimbalist ever since the Remington Steele days, it is high time she got a role such as this that made use of her many talents. I’m sure it will be a triumph for her.
The famous film of The Lion in Winter starred Katharine Hepburn as Eleanor, Peter O’Toole as Henry II. It also was the first appearance in a feature film by Anthony Hopkins, who played Richard the Lionheart. The first day on the set, Hepburn took Hopkins aside and gave him the best advice one actor has ever given another. “Just say your lines,” she said, “Don’t try to act.” Those eight words should be engraved over the stage door of every theater in the world, and over the classroom door of every drama school.
The Lion in Winter opens Thursday and runs through Dec. 18 at the Alhecama Theatre, 914 Santa Barbara St. in Santa Barbara. It plays at 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays, and at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Sundays, with a special 4 p.m. matinee Saturday, Dec. 10. Tickets range from $40 to $65, with discounts for seniors and students. Tickets are available through the Ensemble Theatre box office at 805.965.5400, or click here to order online.
— Gerald Carpenter covers the arts as a Noozhawk contributing writer.
Comments
