By Carol Davis
SOLANA BEACH, California —Thirty years ago the late Tom Blakistone and his wife Olive founded the North Coast Repertory Theatre in the shopping center at Loma Santa Fe in Solana Beach. The first incarnation of this theater was located in a tiny little corner right next to an ice cream store. My late husband and I saw many shows in that small location but the one show that we missed was The Lion in Winter that was produced in 1982 during its inaugural season.
Now in celebration of 30 years of producing theater and in tribute to Olive Blakistone, artistic director David Ellenstein with director Andrew Barnicle, James Goldman’s The Lion in Winter is onstage once again. This time however, it is in the newer and slightly larger location just diagonally across the shopping center from the original theater and from all indications, based on the opening night performances of the entire cast, and the reactions of the audience, this new production loaded with bite, humor, candor, and ferocity will be a topic for discussion for some time.
This lion, the 50-year-old King Henry II is played by Mark Pinter. He never lacks the courage to insult or belittle his banished (to the tower for staging an uprising against him) bride of 30 years, Eleanor of Aquitaine (Kandis Chappell) when he lets her join in on the holiday festivities once a year, but his convictions are less than honorable. But I get ahead of myself.
Goldman’s 1966 Broadway play premiered at the Ambassador Theatre and was made into a movie in 1968. The play was revived again in 1999. From all accounts, the movie version was more successful than when the play was first mounted on Broadway. While the characters lived during the time frame of the action (1183) and the depictions of the characters appear to be accurate and their destinies follow the paths indicated in the play; the dialogue is pure conjecture and fiction. Based on Goldman’s play, the audiences ate up the movie and Audrey Hepburn took home an Oscar for her excellent portrayal of the conniving yet somewhat neglected wife of Henry II, Eleanor of Aquitaine.
Now in a fiery, yet oft times redundant production, the offspring and wife of the King of England are plotting and conspiring to see who will be the next in line to rule over his Empire that stretches from the Scottish border to the Pyrenees. It isn’t pretty but it surely is fun to watch and keep score and as director Barnicle points out in his ‘directors notes’, “There’s a lot going on in this one”.
Bottom line, though is that every one of the players, from Eleanor to Henry to their three surviving sons, Geoffrey (Jason Maddy), Richard (Richard Baird) and John (Kyle Roche) has an idea as to who will be the next in line to succeed their father and husband. Throw in Henry’s childlike squeeze, the v e r y young Alais (Alexandra Grossi) whom the King and Queen raised since a child, and her step-brother Phillip (Kyle Sorrell) the next in line to be King of France and you have an assortment of cutthroat aristocrats acting like alley cats ready to pounce on anyone stepping out of their territorial bounds. The only difference is they do it in a castle setting (Marty Burnett) dressed to the nines (Renetta Lloyd) and looking very regal in their velvets and leather duds rather than in the back streets of London or on the pathways of France.
Armed with an excellent cast, (for the most part) this two-hour plus production moves along at a pretty fast pace given the history we all have to absorb and sort through in short but pungent scenes. Kandis Chappell, the granddame of theatre, is a welcome sight as Eleanor. She couldn’t be more serious looking and regal sounding if she were on Saturday Night Live lashing out stinging retorts at her husband as they pretty much sparred all evening over everything from fidelity to who loved who the most.
(“ You look fit. War agrees with you. I keep informed; I follow all your slaughters from a distance. Do sit down.”
“Is this an audience… a good night hug with kisses… or an ambush?”
“Let’s hope it’s a reunion.”)
Keeping up with the pace, Pinter’s Henry is just as sharp, but he looks more the worn for it. Perhaps he has more at stake since his Alais (pronounced Alice) is both his child amour and a pawn in all this trading back and forth. She was promised to Richard by Phillip as a youngster and now seems to be the bargaining tool for land and or one of the sons. Unfortunately, Phillip and Richard (who would go on to become Richard the Lionheart) had some early dalliances and while Richard seems in agreement to a marriage with Alais, Henry does not, which becomes a permanent thorn in Eleanor’s side.
All three sons could have come from different sets of parents, they are that distinct. Kyle Roche is John, the youngest and most childlike and spoiled, but rather dim witted. Roche plays him perfectly. Jason Maddy is precisely accurate as the calculating Geoffrey. The only one who seems to like Geoffrey the most is Geoffrey himself. His views shift as the sands depending on which of the other brothers will keep him in their court. Maddy plays Geoffrey like a violin.
Richard Baird is the real king pin in the bidding wars. He is the oldest, fiercest and Eleanor’s favorite. Unfortunately, Baird has but two expressions, angry and angrier which doesn’t leave much to admire about his performance. Alexandra Grossi provides a lovely contrast between the aging Eleanor and the youthful Alias, and while her relationship with Henry is a big deal to them, she proves to be pretty ineffective going up against a master craftswoman like Eleanor.
With so much continual disingenuousness going on, keeping score isn’t that difficult as Barnicle’s pacing is crisp and everyone in character throughout is predictable. So following their thought processes is a wonderful exercise in paying close attention and enjoying this chess game close up and personal which in turn proves to be a satisfying evening of theatre.
Congratulations and Happy Anniversary to Olive Blakistone for her commitment to live theatre.
See you at the theatre.
Dates: Through Feb. 5th
Organization: North Coast repertory Theatre
Phone: 858-481-1055
Production Type: Historical drama
Where: 987 Lomas Santa Fe Drive, Solana Beach, CA 92075
Ticket Prices: starting at $32
Web: Northcoastrep.org