The Lion in Winter

view spoiler Bettie s Books hide spoiler

What shall we hang, the holly or each other If that sounds like something you d hear or say at one of your holiday gatherings, then it s time for this Festivus classic Wait, Festivus classic Absolutely While Die Hard may be an alternate Christmas classic for those who avoid the overly heartwarming by watching Bruce Willis blow stuff up real good, this is the movie play, I meant play for those who prefer their explosions verbal and emotional But why Festivus and not Christmas This is, after all, [...]

I ve just spent a happy Saturday finishing this delicious book, which did live up to expectations The Henry and Eleanor dynamics in this play would perhaps be best described as a loving hate relationship, for you never are sure what exactly they feel for each other till the final scene, when you realise they are each other s weakness The dialogue is wonderfully snarky and poisonously witty, like watching the two greatest swordsmen of the time duel for hours and hours non stop, only that both use [...]

Re read.Despite its obvious inaccuracies this is still my favourite fiction about Henry and Eleanor Love the snark

2014 version youtube watch v TrfbV

This medieval story has a modern feel to it so that its message becomes timeless This most dysfunctional family celebrates Christmas with betrayal and love, if not in equal parts, then with equal fervor The best review of the play I read included the line, King Lear meets Who s Afraid of Virginia Woolf Recommended, especially because the Hepburn O Toole film does not have English subtitles and the word play is too precious to guess at.

This is the play that the movie came from, and it s one of the most exciting and witty plays written My edition has an interesting introduction by Goldman in which he relates how many people believe that the movie was made because the play was a big hit, which wasn t true It was the movie, released over two years after the play had closed its brief Broadway run with Christopher Walken as King Philip that turned the play into a classic.It s Christmas, 1183, and the three princes, Richard, Geoffre [...]

Extraordinary I have a problem with despicable people I have a bias against them, so shoot me If you suck, I garner no enjoyment from your suckdom, and therefore will not typically read a book that is strictly about lying, conniving, murderous, adulterous, dare I say slimy , people Though we know little of their true personalities, I believe those adjectives could easily fit Henry II, his wife Eleanor and their crew, based on documented wars and murders alone But I did, enjoy it that is, and the [...]

I confess that I m rating the movie 1968 along with this play I couldn t divorce the two in my mind when reading the play The movie follows the play entirely with the movie adding the settings that help to comprehend the play The movie is among my favorites of all time specifically because of the word play and the dialogue And with Katherine Hepburn as Eleanor or Aquitainewell it simply doesn t get any better This play is a brilliant representation of family dynamics and politics on steroids Gen [...]

I read the approx 100 page play in one day I found interesting this original script of the play when compared with the 1968 version of this play played by Peter OToole and Katherine Hepburn and Antony Hopkins I don t know whice version I like better I enjoy both versions They each inform the other.

A very good play but I wonder if I liked it so much since I saw the 1968 film with Hepburn O Toole Without imagining them saying these lines, it would have been dry I d likely have gone for a 3 Star rating The dialogue is biting and witty, but partly due to delivery and the actors are the ones to add dimensionality to the lines I recommended both reading this and watching that fantastic movie

The love of power, the power of love and the power of power Lovely Those are the three things the play is about according to Michael Mayer, one of its directors.I ve just watched two plays that have absolutely nothing to do with one another despite being pretty much about the same thing a dysfunctional family get together for a special occasion Christmas in one, the grandfather s suicide in the other The one is the Lion in Winter, the other August Osage county.It s Christmas 1183 Henry II has as [...]

What do you know My marriage has been immortalized Good thing we re not playing for such high stakes.

I m about to start rehearsing to play Richard in this play, which goes up in June It s a revisiting I read it in college when I helped build the set for an OSU theater department production Eight years later I played Geoffrey in a community theater version Now on to Richard.The play takes place on a Christmas Day in the twelfth century, and concerns a unique dysfuctional family who just happen to be the Royal Family of England There s the father, Henry II, trying to effect a peaceful transition [...]

This is a fabulous show Well written and intriguing The audience watches as Henry II and his estranged Queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine, gather together with their boys, France s prince, and Henry s mistress for a Christmas holiday A young Richard the Lionheart debates with his brothers for the crown, struggles with his father for a wife, fights to hide an indiscretion, and plots to keep his land Prince Geoffery schemes and Prince John snivels Alais, Henry s mistress and Richard s fiance, is played l [...]

THIS IS A GREAT PLAY So great that I have resorted to caps lock, which is not something I do too much Seriously There are so many great quotes that I wanted to set aside and come back to later, and I did start copying them down until it became apparent that I d be copying down the whole script and I was better off just reading it again Which I did.If you d rather watch it, I highly recommend the Katharine Hepburn Peter O Toole classic It s remarkably faithful to the script and, of course, very w [...]

At Christmas 1183 at Chinon, Henry II of England brings his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine out of her prison to spend the holidays with their sons Richard, John and Geoffrey Included in these unusual festivities are the French King Phillip II and Henry s mistress Alais At issue is the question of the succession who comes next after Henry s gone The sons are all scheming for their place and the bitterness runs deep in this family As Eleanor says near the end when all feels lost What family doesn t hav [...]

I truly do love this play The writing s devilishly good and wickedly fun Some lines are real gems To me, it doesn t matter that the story s one of fiction The play in essence gives life to these people and makes them seem real And given my knowledge of the history of Henry II, Eleanor of Aquitaine and the lives of their children, some of the themes addressed in the play do indeed seem plausible.

Savy, intelligent, rapid fire dialogue a family reunion that makes all others pale in comparison a game of who can and who can you not trust, all wrapped up into a short read that will make you smile Yes you should read this book.My recommendation listen to the audiobook The actors who voiced these characters are absolutely brilliant

A whirlwind look at a completely dysfunctional family under the guise of history It supposedly represents Henry II and his wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine and their children in a conflict over who will replace Henry when he dies There is much conniving, fighting, threatening and general mayhem throughout the play I soon got bored and any intelligent person will too.

Henry and elanore being who thety are have problems Regal problems that can t be solved in a simple fashion The play really is a masterpiece of words and a delightful chess game between two string willed royals who are used to getting their own way Now they must make cibsessions and learn to work together for the common good and to find themselves together as a team.

I m not sure if Molina is the best Henry II I ve seen or heard, but this performance of the play is darn good The repartee is well done and even with just the audio you can hear the passion and disgust that Henry Eleanor feel for each other.

I saw the films before reading the play, which was a mistake After seeing such impassioned performances, the script just can t help but feel a little flat and lifeless But it s a brutal, beautiful piece of writing all the same, and well worth the time.

A brilliant play that fits well with Shakespeare Histories I ve been reading But then that it had a strong intelligent modernist voice Brevity at it s most elegant, with what not said being as important as what is said.

title tt0063227

I just couldn t enjoy this For me all the jokes fell flat, a few things really don t age well, some inaccuracies are so stupid and pointless, and most of all the characters don tfeel like who they should be, which is especially grievous considering the frankly braggy introduction about how Goldman really got into their heads Yeah I suppose if you were a white dude in the 60s this would feel fresh I ll still see the movie because Katherine Hepburn is the queen.

I suppose it s an entertaining play I want to see the movie But the plot itself doesn t do much besides spin around from one intrigue to the next and back again, with little purpose and no resolution By the end, the drama is bled out and the reader is left exhausted The dialogue is good and, again, it did make me want to see the movie play I just expected than a surface deep plot.

The family of Henry II comes together for the holidays to plot, scheme and devise strategems to gain the power of the throne, and over each other The writing here is brilliant, funny and crisp The back and forth between Henry and Eleanor of Aquitaine is fast paced and excellent Highly Recommend

We re doing this play at my theater in the upcoming year and I was contemplating auditioning After reading the play, I am so excited to do so This play is funny, clever, and just all around thoroughly enjoyable.

An old fave.