Production archive
The Lion in Winter
2008 season · Production archive
King Henry II of England has three sons by Eleanor of Aquitaine: Richard, Geoffrey and John. He wants the kingdom to stay united after his death, but all three sons want to rule and it is likely to be torn apart by revolution. Henry favours the youngest son while Eleanor favours the eldest; the middle son hopes to play both ends against each other and come out on top. Henry would like another heir by his mistress, but that would only add to the contenders. Uneasy is the head on which the crown lies, and uneasy the truce between a matchless king and queen.
- Written by
- James Goldman
- Directed by
- Rick Bernstein
- Ran
- January 4 – February 16, 2008 (held over)
- Cast
- Nathan Bock · Jan Cleveland · Ryan Howard · Heather Kaloust · Seth Maisel · Christian Mast · Wade P. Wood
About the production
Goldman’s 1966 play is a Christmas court in 1183 conducted entirely in twentieth-century wit, and it survives on dialogue rather than pageantry. That is the only reason a seven-actor Plantagenet succession crisis can be staged in a converted basement at all: there is no battle, no crowd and no castle, just a family arguing in rooms.
The production was held over to mid-February, one of the few extensions recorded in the Vic’s archive, and drew notices from all four of the outlets that covered the house regularly — the metro daily, the second daily, the alt-weekly circuit and the local review blogs. It was, by the evidence of the archive, the best-reviewed straight play the theatre staged.
What the press said
“an ideal offering for the intimate Victorian…the Vic’s audiences are plainly loving Bernstein’s devil-may-care approach…grand and well-played storytelling”
“There’s plenty of court intrigue in The Lion in Winter, but what really shines in (this) production is the sparkling banter that races across the stage…a polished, zippy production”
“This is the most thrillingly satisfying production of this play in aeons…A riveting and exhilarating evening of theatre…This show is a knock-out!”
Where it sat in the season
It was production 1 of 10 in the Vic’s 2008 season. It was followed by Stones In His Pockets (Feb 22 – Apr 5, 2008). The full year is set out on the season calendars page, and every production the theatre staged between 2005 and 2011 is indexed in the production archive.
The house’s standard pattern was Friday and Saturday evenings at 7.30 with a Sunday matinee, over a run of six to eight weeks. With seventy-five seats, a full eight-week run put roughly 1,800 people through the room — which a 500-seat theatre does in four nights, and which is the single fact that explains most of what the Vic chose to programme.
This page is part of the production archive of the Denver Victorian Playhouse, a seventy-five-seat theatre in the basement of a northwest Denver house that staged its last performance in 2011. Details here are restored from the theatre’s own records as they were published at the time; press quotations are reproduced with their original attributions and nothing has been added to them.