By Alisha Hagey and Jason Hagey
James Goldman’s The Lion in Winter is a modern play set in historical 1183 England and Pioneer Theatre Company’s production is equally modern and historical with grace and power. The play has some of the best dramatic elements: adultery, dungeons, sibling rivalry, and the possibility of murder. Ambitions are high and the emotions are deep. The Lion in Winter is a modern-day classic with comedy and drama. As the character Eleanor says, “Every family has its ups and downs.” With everyone competing to inherit the throne, The Lion in Winter’s ups and downs will keep you riveted until the very end.
The Plantagenet family has come together at Christmas time. Henry II has kept his formidable wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine, on a kind of house arrest but her barbs and intrigues are plentiful and she has no fear of him or his intents. Henry keeps a mistress, Alais, and means to marry her. Eleanor and Henry’s still surviving sons come for the holiday: Richard, Geoffrey, and John. Henry’s enemy (and half-brother of Alais) Philip II, King of France, visits as well. The stage is set for a medieval tragicomedy that is the spiritual predecessor to Game of Thrones and Keeping Up with the Kardashians.
Esau Pritchett (Henry II) is strong. He has a commanding presence and he portrays a powerful patriarch, one not to be meddled with. Celeste Ciulla (Eleanor) grapples with the difficulty of being the wife and mother of an insanely dysfunctional family. She’s the true star of the show, being every bit as incredible as the real Eleanor who outlived all her sons but John, still being alive for much of his reign.
William Connell (Richard the Lionheart), Damian Jermaine Thompson (Geoffrey), and Austin Reed Alleman (John) each take on a diametrically different role than the other, being the counter to their brothers while playing perfectly the pawns to their parents. Connell is disarming in his vulnerability while being believably the great warrior Richard was known to be. Thompson does Geoffrey justice and wondering what he is planning to do next is second nature because his subtext and subtlety give the audience just enough to know that the wheels are always turning in his mind. Alleman is insipid, ridiculous, and suits John with the same childishness made famous in Disney’s Robin Hood, but with a greater depth and much more angst (after all, he’s supposed to be 16 years old).
Maryam Abdi (Alais) and Grayson Dejesus (Philip) are great foils in this game of kings and queens. They are thrown around amidst the schemers. Initially both actors come across as victims but they soon begin playing the game themselves. As Abdi says, “Kings, queens, knights everywhere you look and I’m the only pawn. I haven’t got a thing to lose – that makes me dangerous.” Both of these actors are dangerous onstage and play a lethal role in affecting the action.
The design for The Lion in Winter is exquisite. Truly, the design team achieves something difficult: combine the modern with the medieval aesthetic. This has been tried before and it often fails, but their work is cohesive and bridges the gap with aplomb. Set Designer Jason Simms’ setting is deceptive. The appearance, at first glance, is simple but the versatility of Simms’ design enlivens the set, making it almost a character unto itself. Simms also well prepares to create different spaces with a minimalist’s attention to detail. Phillip R. Lowe (Costume Designer) perhaps best blends the modern and medieval with his modern fabrics and footwear choices (some characters even wear sneakers) and a cohesive medieval line. Instead of seeking to be time-period purist, Lowe provides a great connection for the audience between what is happening on stage in 1183 and our contemporary experience. Driscoll Otto (Lighting Designer) brings the set and costumes together with lighting that gives a strong sense of being in a medieval castle and the use of colored LED lights over the archways during transitions, thus completing the modern/medieval motif.
Director Wes Grantom’s vision seems clear: “Viewing our history as this mirrored funhouse of fact and fiction perhaps makes it easier to see that the common denominator in all of our historical battles and power struggles is us.” The action and dialogue onstage is meant to be a mirror of us, for the modern audience to see themselves in these fictionalized Twelfth Century royals. Grantom truly creates this mirror in his production of The Lion in Winter, helping us to see ourselves in the lives of characters who would otherwise be far removed from us.
The poignancy of the production is perhaps best captured in Eleanor’s line, “It’s 1183 and we’re still barbarians.” As Grantom points out in his director’s note, and as the production is asking each of us, “Hey, you out there. Yeah, you! It’s 2019. Are we still barbarians?” With all that is going on in the world, and in the United States – with the politics and the wars and violence – are we truly removed from medieval times? The Lion in Winter is a production worthy of attending. The director’s vision, the work of actors and designers alike, elevates this production to a place among some of Pioneer Theatre Company’s best theatrical works.
Pioneer Theatre Company presents The Lion in Winter by James Goldman
Pioneer Theatre Company, 300 S 1400 E SLC, UT 84112
January 4 – January 19, 2019, Monday – Thursday 7:00 PM, Friday-Saturday 7:30 PM, 2:00 PM Saturday matinees
Tickets: $30 – $45 in advance, and $5 more when purchased on the day of the show
Contact: 801-581-6961
Pioneer Theatre Company Facebook Page
The Lion in Winter Facebook Event
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