Katharine Hepburn and Peter O’Toole in the 1968 film The Lion in Winter. Photo / Getty Images
Repertory’s Kerry Girdwood is keen to direct The Lion in Winter, the 1966 play by Ron Goldman which became even more well-known when it was made into a movie, with Katharine Hepburn starring as Eleanor of Aquitaine.
What an amazing character Eleanor was! After her only brother’s death, Eleanor became
heir-presumptive to her father William, Duke of Aquitaine, and was educated accordingly. Intelligent and witty, Eleanor didn’t suffer fools, which made her marriage to the young king Louis of France intolerable. When her petition to have the marriage annulled was finally successful, she remarried, this time to Henry II, King of England and most of modern-day France.
Eleanor bore several children to Henry, two of whom later became kings of England: Richard the Lionheart and the disappointing John. When three sons, Richard, Henry and Geoffrey led a revolt against their father’s rule, their mother Eleanor backed them. Henry forgave his sons but imprisoned Eleanor, occasionally releasing her for Christmas.
This is the factual background of The Lion in Winter, set in 1183, although the play itself is fictional. Both Eleanor and Henry dangle the carrot of the kingdom before their sons, playing on sibling rivalry and petty jealousies. It’s been described as a dark comedy, sarcastic and witty.
Kerry expects to run auditions for five men and two women for the play in early May, with performances planned for late July.
