“Oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.”

Here lies the marrow when royalty, family, power and possibly love collide in The Lion in Winter, a historical drama that may itself be fictional, but a number of conflicts in the production within this real life monarchy are based on historic events.  This famous quote from Scottish poet Sir Walter Scott may be cautionary in nature and The Lion in Winter seems like a cautionary tale in some familial aspects, but these wildly tangled webs are far beyond fixing and are need of a reckoning.

With scrupulous direction by Allison Olivia Choat, Theater Uncorked presents James Goldman’s rarely performed drama The Lion in Winter live and in person at Boston Center for the Arts at the BCA Plaza Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts through Sunday, December 15.  The production contains adult themes and is approximately two hours with one intermission.  Click here for more information and for tickets.

The Lion In Winter has been adapted into an Academy Award-winning 1968 film starring Peter O’Toole as King Henry II and Katherine Hepburn as Eleanor of Aquitaine.  Though both actors were nominated for Academy Awards, Katherine Hepburn won for Best Actress.  The Lion in Winter was also later adapted into a lesser known TV movie in 2003 starring Sir Patrick Stewart as King Henry II and Glenn Close as Eleanor of Aquitaine.

Set designer Leonard Chasse delivers medieval festive hauling out the holly for Christmas adorning gold and red velvet tables, a regal coat of arms on the wall and a pair of keenly lit crosses while candlelight by lighting director Erik Fox not only casts ambient light, but adds a foreboding quality to much of the production.

Theatre Uncorked does dysfunction well.  They certainly made a case for the Eliot Norton award-winning Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf last year diving into extreme marital dysfunction and this year, a royal battle as three sons vie to become the next King of England as Christmas approaches in 1183.  Anthony Mullin as Henry II has high hopes for one son, but Sehnaz Dirik as recently imprisoned Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine has other plans.  It shares some similarities with Shakespeare’s King Lear and the play is even mentioned during the production.  However, nothing is as it seems and the crown and succession feels like a smaller detail in the grand scheme of this family’s maladies.

Like Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, The Lion in Winter visits some of the darkest places of the human condition, and not only reflects the frustration in a toxic marriage but explores neglect, betrayal, grief, mortality, oppression, war and an unscrupulous hunger for power.  It also has its share of satirical humor in its veiled slights, quips, and deadpan style of manipulation.  Each member of the family is playing a long game to achieve each of their desired objectives and as soon as you think you have a grasp of what is happening, the tables turn.

The Lion in Winter boasts two powerful leads in Anthony Mullin as charismatic and egotistical King Henry II and Sehnaz Dirik as Queen Eleanor.  Complicated does not begin to describe their relationship and like Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, King Henry II and Queen Eleanor’s relationship have many layers in their decades long marriage and one cannot think of how dangerous it can be to know someone all too well.  Mullin’s clever and shrewd King Henry to Dirik’s witty and scheming Eleanor put on more than a game face fueled by their passion and stubbornness vying for the upper hand in everything.  Dirik is a natural at Eleanor’s underlying vulnerability behind her machinations with only the audience the wiser.

Micah Livesay is sympathetic as loyal and susceptible Alais as she struggles in her twisted role while Matthew Zahnzinger as Alais’s egotistical brother Phillip stealthily bides his time on his next move as King of France.

The sons seem like pawns and wish I had a deeper understanding of who they are.  All longing for love more than anything else and acting out about it in distinctive and destructive ways.   Finian Ross as impressionable John, James Honaker as calculating Geoffrey and Thain Emrys Bertin as complex yet valiant Richard all work best while conspiring with each other. 

The Lion in Winter is a bit lengthy contemplating the game more than it builds tension, though it is intriguing to see how each move plays out.  Whatever this family has next up their sleeve, it is certainly far from a Norman Rockwell Christmas.

Theater Uncorked presents James Goldman’s rarely performed drama The Lion in Winter live and in person at Boston Center for the Arts at the BCA Plaza Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts through Sunday, December 15.  The production is approximately two hours with one intermission.  Click here for more information and for tickets.