The Lion in Winter
Written by James Goldman
Narrated by Alfred Molina, Kathleen Chalfant and Full Cast
4.5/5
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About this audiobook
Recorded before a live audience at the Skirball Cultural Center, Los Angeles, in December 2001.
Director: Rosalind Ayres Producing Director: Susan Albert Loewenberg An L.A. Theatre Works Full-Cast Performance Featuring: Lars Carlson as John Kathleen Chalfant as Eleanor of Aquitaine Kevin Daniels as Richard Coeur De Leon Spencer Garrett as Philip Capet Laurel Moglen as Alais Capet Alfred Molina as Henry Plantagenet Steven Sutcliffe as Geoffrey Recording Engineer/Sound Designer/Editor: David Kelly For Voicebox Studios, Los Angeles"
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Reviews for The Lion in Winter
156 ratings8 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Good cast! A little difficult to understand what happens at the end in this audio medium.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Full of intrigue and sharp wit.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5No matter how many times, and in how many venues, I am exposed to this work, I simply cannot give it less than five stars. It is a delightful work, based on the history of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine, centered around one Christmas homecoming for Eleanor, on her yearly respite from the exile where her husband had locked her up. The battles between these two strong-willed individuals tear apart a family and could potentially tear apart a country. Three sons - one will inherit the throne. In an era before primogenitor, there was no certainty as to which one. Henry wants Prince John to succeed; Eleanor is determined to have Richard ascend the throne. If these names sound familiar, they should - they are the King Richard and Prince John of Robin Hood fame. The situation is complicated by the presence of Henry's young mistress, who is engaged to John - or to Richard - and her brother, the King of France, who wants her either married off or her dowery returned. At stake are two valuable pieces of land that Henry has no intention of releasing. Who is scheming against whom, and who will prove the winner? The smartest? The strongest? The one with the most pimples? It's a tour de force. You only thought your family was dysfunctional.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This is one of my absolute favorite plays! It has all the components of a great drama: extramarital affairs, family fighting, possible treason. Henry II wants his youngest son John to be king of England when he dies, but his wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine, wants the eldest, Richard, to be king. Add in a middle son that no one wants to be king, the young mistress of Henry II and the King of France, and it's a party! The play is witty and fast paced. History buffs will love this version of the event that lead to the rise of Henry II's heir. I would recommend this for upper level high school students studying World History. This may be especially intriguing to students in AP European History.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5No matter how many times, and in how many venues, I am exposed to this work, I simply cannot give it less than five stars. It is a delightful work, based on the history of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine, centered around one Christmas homecoming for Eleanor, on her yearly respite from the exile where her husband had locked her up. The battles between these two strong-willed individuals tear apart a family and could potentially tear apart a country. Three sons - one will inherit the throne. In an era before primogenitor, there was no certainty as to which one. Henry wants Prince John to succeed; Eleanor is determined to have Richard ascend the throne. If these names sound familiar, they should - they are the King Richard and Prince John of Robin Hood fame. The situation is complicated by the presence of Henry's young mistress, who is engaged to John - or to Richard - and her brother, the King of France, who wants her either married off or her dowery returned. At stake are two valuable pieces of land that Henry has no intention of releasing. Who is scheming against whom, and who will prove the winner? The smartest? The strongest? The one with the most pimples? It's a tour de force. You only thought your family was dysfunctional.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I'm about to start rehearsing to play Richard in this play, which goes up in June. It's a revisiting. I read it in college when I helped build the set for an OSU theater department production. Eight years later I played Geoffrey in a community theater version. Now on to Richard.
The play takes place on a Christmas Day in the twelfth century, and concerns a unique dysfuctional family who just happen to be the Royal Family of England. There's the father, Henry II, trying to effect a peaceful transition of power to one of his sons while marrying his mistress, Alais. There's the mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine, the richest woman in the world, who is trying to finagle her freedom and the accession to power of another son. These two hate one another passionately, although the ghost of their love lingers.
And then there are the boys. Richard, a bloody-minded warrior, Geoffrey, an intellectual plotter, and John, a sniveling brat. Add to the mix the young French king, Philip, and his sister, the above-mentioned Alais.
Plots and schemes abound, as do witty putdowns, as the characters plot each other's deaths and simultaneously cry out for each other's love.
Three key observations this time around:
1) This is what the world would look like if psychiatry had never been invented. The family members practice their "talking cures" with one another, although no cure is in sight.
2) This is the original "Game of Thrones", what with its combination of cutting, witty barbs and internecine plots.
3) In many ways, the Plantagenet Family Christmas is the original "Festivus", complete with the airing of grievances, but without the pole and feats of strength.
Doing this show again is going to be fun. - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This is the play that the movie came from, and it's one of the most exciting and witty plays written. My edition has an interesting introduction by Goldman in which he relates how many people believe that the movie was made because the play was a big hit, which wasn't true. It was the movie, released over two years after the play had closed its brief Broadway run (with Christopher Walken as King Philip) that turned the play into a classic.It's Christmas, 1183, and the three princes, Richard, Geoffrey and John have gathered at their father's palace. Joining them from her exile is their mother, Queen Eleanor, who Henry has kept under guard somewhere for ten years while he took their French adopted daughter, Princess Alais, as his lover. On this day, Alais' brother, the king of France, has come to demand either the return of his sister or the fulfillment of Henry's contract: that Alais marry Richard and inherit the Aquitaine. That Henry does not want to give up Alais, his property or be ordered about are the immediate problems, but the bigger problem, and the plot of the play, is that Henry and Eleanor were and are horrible parents. Richard rages and openly desires to kill his father, Geoffrey repays his family for neglecting him by setting them up to be caught in his lies and John throws tantrums to guilt his father into giving him the crown. The dialogue is sharp, brutal and funny in a "see, your family could be worse" way that I love.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Full of intrigue and sharp wit.