By Kate Hawthorne, Arts Editor
This fall, the Bi-College Spotlight Theatre Company brought the audience back in time to a Christmas celebration in Brittany, France circa the twelfth century. Directed by Veronica Walton BMC ‘19, the Bi-College production of “The Lion in Winter” by James Goldman ran Thursday Nov. 29 through Saturday Dec. 1. The play is most well known for its 1968 film adaptation also written by Goldman, which stars Peter O’Toole and Bryn Mawr alumnae Katharine Hepburn. The Spotlight version of the play was performed by a small, but talented cast of Haverford students.
The plot of the play is centered around which of King Henry II’s sons will inherit the throne of England. Will it be Richard the Lionheart, John Lackland, or Geoffery Duke of Brittany? The play is filled with Henry’s maneuvering to get everything he wants: his favorite son, John, on the throne, the woman who is supposed to marry Richard, Alais, as his own mistress, and the French region of Aquitaine out of his wife Eleanor’s hands. His attempts at politics and maneuvering are matched by his wife, his three sons, his mistress, and the visiting King of France, Philip II, half-brother to Henry’s mistress and desirous to see her marriage to Richard. A heady tale of betrayal, court intrigue, and almost-wars, what the play truly represents is the difficulties that come with very different family members gathering together for the holidays, albeit in a much more violent and complicated manner.
In the Bi-Co production, there are masterful portrayals of all of the characters by their respective actors. Henry II, played by Ian Cumberpatch HC ‘19 and long-time member of the Bi-Co theatre community, is every bit as plotting and calculating as one might imagine a king of England with a large empire to be. Yet, he is somehow unaware of the duplicity of his own sons. Eleanor of Aquitaine, portrayed by Ainsley Bruton HC ‘21, is as forward-thinking and cut-throat as an imprisoned Queen of England would need to be, especially when confronted with her husband and his mistress, a girl she raised herself. The mistress Alais, played by Ana Legaspi HC ‘22, seems so young and innocent, yet is surprisingly brutal in her approach to the issues at hand. Philip, the new and young King of France played Kai-Ling Su HC ‘22, surprises both the audience and Henry with his political adeptness, especially when he looks so fresh-faced and wide-eyed at the beginning of the play. The second son, Geoffery, played by ShelDan Dalsimer ‘21 is just as cunning and duplicitous as a middle son to a King would need to be, especially when he knows that his parents have opposing favorites, neither of which is him. The youngest son, John, played by Jesse Zeldes ‘22, is as whiny as one would imagine him to be and thrice as ambitious, with a vicious side when it comes to getting what he desires. The oldest son, Richard Lionheart, played by Gaynor Norcott ‘20, known throughout history for his role in the crusades is brash and aggressive and bloodthirsty, yet somehow naïve of the ways of the world, especially when it comes to politics.
Walton’s actors inhabit the roles they were assigned in a compelling manner, presenting their characters as whole beings and adding comedy to the play. After an almost three hour run, the play received rounds of applause and well-deserved congratulations to the actors and director, before the audience parted ways into the cold, wintry night.
Photo credit: Bi-College Spotlight Theatre Company
