THE LION IN WINTER
by James Goldman
(September 11 to October 3, 2023)
Director: Michael Hiller
Producers: Julie Rush, Karen Matthews
About the play:
Set during Christmas 1183 at Henry II of England’s castle in France (Chinon in Anjou), the play opens with the arrival of Henry’s wife Eleanor of Aquitaine, whom he has had imprisoned for ten years. The story concerns the gamesmanship between Henry, Eleanor, their three surviving sons Richard, Geoffrey, and John, and their Christmas Court guest, the King of France, Philippe II, who was the son of Eleanor’s ex-husband, Louis VII of France (by another wife). Also involved is Philip’s half-sister Alais who has been at court since she was betrothed to Richard at age eight, but has since become Henry’s mistress.
“What matters is the chemistry between the characters, and this show lives and dies by that. The “lion” is Henry II, King of England, Ireland, Wales, and large parts of France. He is 50 years old at this point in time, and worried about the future of his kingdom. His wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine, is a match for him on every level and, possibly, even more unscrupulous. His three surviving sons have contentious relationships with him to say the least.”
~ Michael Hiller, director
About James Goldman, the playwright:
James Goldman (1927-1998) was an American playwright, novelist, and screenwriter, honored with an Academy Award for the screen adaptation of his own play The Lion in Winter.
Mr. Goldman was born in Chicago and was a graduate of the University of Chicago before beginning postgraduate work at Columbia University in music criticism until he was drafted into the army during World War II. Mr. Goldman’s first play on Broadway was a comedy about life in the army, Blood, Sweat, and Stanley Poole (1961), written with his brother William.
Other work for the stage includes A Family Affair, a collaboration with John Kander, starring Shelley Berman; Evening Primrose (1966), his second collaboration with Mr. Sondheim; Oliver Twist (1982), Anna Karenina (1985), Anatasia: The Mystery of Anna (1986), and Tolstoy (1996). Mr. Goldman’s novels include The Man from Greek and Roman (1974), Myself as Witness (1980), and Fulton County (1989).
About Michael Hiller, the director:
Michael has been involved in community theatre across the GTA for over 30 years; his acting roles include Montfleury in Cyrano de Bergerac, Ferraillon in A Flea in Her Ear, and . . . Henry in The Lion in Winter.
This will be the eighth play he has directed for Village Players, following Nuts (2011), Beyond Therapy (2012), Mauritius (2016), Moonlight and Magnolias (2019), The 39 Steps and The Prisoner of Second Avenue (both in 2022), Filthy Rich (2025). (and that’s not counting his participation in zoom readings during the pandemic.) Plays directed elsewhere include The Night Joe Dolan’s Car Broke Down, Is He Dead?, The Odd Couple, The Odd Couple (Female), 5 Women Wearing the Same Dress, Sweet Charity, A Chorus of Disapproval, Godspell, Harvey, Arsenic and Old Lace and many more.
As Mike has said about this play:
“If you think your family’s dysfunctional, we invite you to spend Christmas with the Plantagenets. Like your relatives, only with knives and swords.“
Village Players 