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Regional Reviews: St. Louis The Lion in Winter Also see Richard's reviews of Bashir Lazhar and Imagining Madoff
Meyer is wry and rueful, but with more of a brainy "edge" than we've seen from her, even in her own Martha (years ago) for a Washington University alumni production of Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf. Here, all of Eleanor's great lines become magnificently (if desperately, or bitterly, or ironically) her own property. Joe O'Connor is very strong too, as King Henry II: with a silky-smooth style throughout—even when he rants and raves over the fate of his kingdom (England in the 12th century). Critics sometimes voice surprise when they see The Lion in Winter played for comedy—but it says "comedy" right there on the cover of the script! And Mr. O'Connor knows how to merge laughter and tears to bittersweet perfection. Sam Hack directs, giving us a more pleasantly comical Geoffrey than I'm used to, at any rate (Mark A. Neels). That's the second (surviving) son in the story—the schemer. And in the 1968 movie, he's a bit of a walking sneer. Equally appalling in the film is another young man: Philip. Here, though, he's a more charming and comical Prince of France (as played by the surprisingly likable Nathan Crall). But somehow I think it's Erik Kuhn, playing young John, the intended heir to the throne, who will go on to the biggest and brightest roles of all, among these young actors. Yes, he looks like an idiot in this role, but he finds the pathos and absurdity of John, in spite of the sinew and subtlety of all the others. And, as must suit our own times, the 'gay guilt' of Richard the Lionhearted (the oldest surviving brother) is largely done away with in this production. It takes a bit away from actor Brad Kinzel in the role, but his Richard finds lots of other reasons to feel dispossessed. (I remember another production of the play, 20 years ago, when a brief kiss between another Prince Richard and another Prince Philip drew an occasional, scornful noise from a local audience, every few performances. Now, such approbation would seem laughable.) So the two men's scene is more charming than furtive, suggesting that gay blackmail, in the Western World anyway, is largely a thing of the past. And perhaps that's why we can make way for a delightfully awkward new Philip of France: Mr. Crall, charming in spite of himself, and probably another young actor to keep an eye on in the future. James Goldman's 1966 script still uses a mountain of elegant words and phrases to build a castle full of medieval imagery, till we are utterly immersed in the problems of England, France, Rome, and the rest. Each is cursed with a barbarism that is (if nothing else) at least more open and honest than our own forms of barbarism, nearly 900 years later. And, like a very different period piece from the 1960s, The Music Man, barely a breath goes by before someone makes reference to a whole world gone-by, and the tastes and smells and dreams of its inhabitants. Couple that banquet of words with Goldman's scintillating wit, and you've got yourself a remarkably engrossing and compelling text. Expect to see a surprisingly accomplished Alais, the excellent Dacey Geary, as Henry's main love interest (while Eleanor is locked up most of the year). The younger woman is rattled, on the brink of extinction (like the rest of them), but watches and learns and summons up the courage and cleverness to work her own will as well. In the end, it's probably just another (extremely clever) family squabble, going over the same old fights again and again, lavishly decorated with humor and style and authentic human spirit. But in a way, the fast-paced intrigue suggests a sort of 12th century version of our own "24-hour news cycle": where every feint is reported as fact; and every momentary failure is a certain death. It's exhausting for these royals, but exhilarating to see each one of them struggle off the mat, again and again, for the rest of us. Through February 8, 2015, at the Washington University South Campus (the former CBC prep school, across from the Esquire Theatre, 6501 Clayton Rd. For more information visit www.placeseveryone.org. Cast Crew
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