The Lion in Winter is a 1966 Broadway play by James Goldman.
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Set during Christmas 1183 at Henry II of England's château 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, their guest, Philip II of France (the son of Eleanor's ex-husband, Louis VII of France), and Philip's half-sister, Alais, who has been at court since she was betrothed to Richard at age 8, but has since become Henry's mistress.
The Lion in Winter is fictional: there was not a Christmas Court at Chinon in 1183; it is implied that Henry imprisoned Eleanor for attempting to overthrow him, but, in fact, she was imprisoned for backing their son Henry in the Revolt of 1173–1174. Also there is no definitive evidence that Alais was Henry's mistress (although Richard later resisted marrying Alais on the basis of this claim). The real Henry had many mistresses (and several illegitimate children); none of the dialogue and actions are historical, although the outcomes and the events leading up to the story are accurate.
The play premiered at the Ambassador Theatre on 3 March 1966. Directed by Noel Willman, it starred Robert Preston as Henry, Rosemary Harris as Eleanor, James Rado as Richard, and Christopher Walken as Philip. Harris won a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play.
The play was revived in March 1999, starring Laurence Fishburne as Henry, and Stockard Channing as Eleanor, directed by Michael Mayer. Channing was nominated for a Tony.
The play was produced by Unseam'd Shakespeare Company in 2002.[1]
The play is being revived in November 2011 at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, London, starring Robert Lindsay as Henry, and Joanna Lumley as Eleanor, directed by Trevor Nunn.
A radio parody of The Lion in Winter entitled The Leopard in Autumn was originally broadcast in BBC Radio 4 in 2001 and 2002 and subsequently re-broadcast on BBC Radio 4 Extra in 2011. Broadcast in two series, it starred David Swift as Prince Ludovico, the ambitious and henpecked ruler of Monte Guano (the smallest and most inconsequential city-state in Renaissance Italy), Siân Phillips as his wife Princess Plethora, Graham Crowden as Francesco (Ludovico's perpetually drunk secretary), Sasha Wickham as Countess Rosalie (Ludovico's mistress [with Plethora's full knowledge and approval]), and as Ludovico's perpetually squabbling sons: Nick Romero as the overly religious Salvatore (whose ambition is to become Pope some day), Paul Bigley as Allesandro (an eternally hopeful would-be artist and inventor) and Christopher Kellen as Guido (a fierce follower of Martin Luther).
(Male, 50) In his time, at fifty, men were either old or dead. Yet Henry is still very nearly as he ever was. His manipulations of family and others are portrayed as spontaneous and emotional as opposed to the well thought out stratagems of Eleanor, and the cold, calculating machinations of Geoffrey. This leaves his character being somewhat likable, despite his many shortcomings.
(Female, 61) Eleanor is the wife of Henry and a beautiful woman of great temperament, authority and presence. She has been a queen for nearly 46 years and while possessing feminine qualities, she is thoroughly capable of holding her own in a man's world. She schemes against Henry and intensely loves him at the same time. She has contempt for the children but is not willing to see them harmed by Henry.
(Male, 17) He is the youngest son of Henry and Eleanor, sulky and sullen, with a boyish outlook on his position. Many in the play describe him as a spoiled brat. He is described in the play as pimply and smelling of compost. He is Henry's favourite, but also the weakest. He constantly vacillates throughout the play, not out of cleverness, but out of fear and weakness. He is easily tricked and manipulated by Geoffrey.
(Male, 25) He is a son of Henry and Eleanor, and a man of energy and action. He is attractive, charming and the "brains" of the family. He is portrayed as coldly scheming with no personal warmth. His view of himself is of one who yearned greatly for the love of his parents while receiving none. Yet, the play leaves open to question whether any of Henry's three sons should be thought to have been truly loved by either Henry or Eleanor and not merely used by King and Queen as pawns in their ceaseless scheming against one another. Lamenting to his parents that "no one ever thinks of Crown and mentions Geoff", the implicit answer—that he was lone amongst his brothers to be unloved by either parent—may be regarded as not altogether satisfactory.
(Male, 26) Currently the eldest son of Henry and Eleanor, he is handsome, graceful and impressive. He has been a famous soldier since his middle teens. War is his profession and he is good at it; he is easily the strongest and toughest of the three sons/princes. Richard and Philip Capet have been sexually involved prior to the action of the play; however, Philip reveals that he participated in the affair purely for political purposes, whereas Richard indicates he had genuine affection for Philip. There are also references to Richard's close relationship with Eleanor in his childhood that has led to his current love/hate relationship with her.
(Female, 23) She is beautiful and in love with Henry. Everyone underestimates her intellect and power. She is initially portrayed as innocent, but by the end of play has begun to acquire a ruthless streak of her own, insisting that Henry imprison his three sons for the rest of their lives in the dungeon.
(Male, 18) He has been King of France for three years. He is not initially as accomplished as Henry in manipulating people, but seems to acquire greater skills at this during the play. He is impressive and handsome without being pretty.