North Coast Rep Announces THE LION IN WINTER, Previews 1/4

By: Dec. 14, 2011
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In honor of its 30th anniversary season, North Coast Rep will draw upon a title from its inaugural year to bring the classic to life once again on our stage. In James Goldman's classic play, The Lion in Winter, domestic turmoil rises to an art form. A quintessential drama of family strife and competing ambitions brings modern-day relevance to the intrigues of 12th Century England. Combining keen historical and psychological insight with delicious, mordant wit, the play has become an American classic.
Previews: January 4 - 6, 2012 
Regular Shows: January 7 - 29, 2012
 
Tickets: $32-$49
Student/Military Discount: $3
Single Subscriber Discount: $5
 
Press/Opening Night is:
Saturday, January 7, 2012
8:00 PM
Due to high demand for this show, please RSVP as soon as possible.

A Note from the Director
 There's a lot going on in this one, and your gonna need a scorecard, so here's the skinny: in 1152, Henry II, Count of Anjou and claimant to the throne of England, married the high-spirited Eleanor, Duchess of Aquitaine, a few months after the annulment of her marriage to King Louis VII of France. This made Henry the most powerful man in Europe, and once he had ascended to the throne of England, which at the time included half of what we now recognize as France, he would spend the rest of his life trying to unify a kingdom that could remain intact after his death.
 
One of the ways he intended to do this was to promise the French King's daughter Alais, (from Louis' second marriage) to his son Richard in exchange for the Vexin, a strategically important county near Paris. The young child Alais was sent to Henry's court to grow up. In time, Alais' stepbrother Philip (from Louis' third marriage) became King of France at the age of 15 in 1180. 
 
In a further attempt to secure the future of the realm, Henry had his oldest son, "Young Henry," crowned when he came of age. It seemed like a good plan, but Young Henry threw a monkey into the wrench when, impatient to gain the possessions promised, he and his brothers Richard and Geoffrey, (with Eleanor's help), revolted against King Henry in a civil war, which they lost. When Young Henry died at the age of 28, King Henry was left with three anxious sons, a wife he had imprisoned for her participation in the revolt, and no viable long term plan for his formidable kingdom. 
 
In the play, Henry Calls a Christmas court, during which he intends to settle the issue. This dysfunctional family gathering is the setting for THE LION IN WINTER, as James Goldman imagines it. Young Alais, still not married, has grown, and the young King Phillip of France has arrived to reclaim the Vexin or see his sister married to Richard. The action takes place mostly in one day at Henry's fortress castle in Chinon, France, but the intrigues are representative of Henry's entire reign, which found brothers pitted against brothers, sons against father, and wife against husband. 

 Pretty much like every holiday family gathering, no? MY THREE SONS this ain't.
 
Ultimately, after Henry's death in 1189, Richard would ascend to the throne and become famous to history as Richard the Lionheart. One of his first acts as king would be to release Eleanor from prison. Richard would be succeeded by his younger brother John, whose inept reign led to the signing of the Magna Carta and the loss of most of Henry's empire. Geoffrey, the "middle child" (along withall that word's connotation) would become the Duke of Britanny and fade into relative obscurity. Eleanor would go on to outlive them all except John. The irrepressible force long outlived Henry, the immovable object. In fact, she outlived them all except John.
 
For tickets or more information, visit http://www.northcoastrep.org.

 



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