I, of course, love Cincinnati Shakespeare Company and everything they do. And I can pretty much guarantee you will love the current production of A Lion in Winter. The story of Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine, his queen, and the mother of his four sons (one of whom is already dead when the play opens), is a major look at family dysfunction. The plots, counter plots, lies and subterfuge are over the top. And then the King of France comes into the picture. And it all breaks loose.
It’s good to remember this is pretty much a true story. Makes today’s headlines look tame. Bruce Cromer and Sherman Fracher are great – everyone is actually great. Remember, too, that son Richard is known to us as Richard the Lion Hearted. Billy Chace, playing 16-year-old Prince John – the John who is such a great friend of the Sheriff of Nottingham, and enemy of Robin Hood, does a great whiny job.
My only very small quibble is that occasionally they all might try quiet menace rather than shouted threats. A great story, great cast. Glad James Goldman wrote it, since Shakespeare didn’t.