Band of Brothers Shakespeare Company to present 'The Lion in Winter'
Feb. 29—JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — Competing ambitions to inherit a kingdom brings about a family upheaval in this production.
The Band of Brothers Shakespeare Company will present "The Lion in Winter" at 7 p.m. Thursday through Saturday at Columba Theatre Project, 916 Broad St. in the Cambria City section of Johnstown.
"I've always liked the idea of medieval culture," said Don F. Evanisko, director of the play. "I've been in Band of Brothers for almost 10 years and decided it's time to start directing, and we had to pick a show, so I thought that we should try to pick something in that time period. I'm glad that I picked it because it's turned out pretty well."
Written in 1966 by James Goldman, "The Lion in Winter" depicts the personal and political conflicts of King Henry II, of England; his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine; their children; and their guests during Christmas 1183.
"You have King Henry, of England, and Queen Eleanor who are estranged, she had been revolting against him for many years so he locked her in prison, and Christmastime comes and he decides to let her out and get together for a family holiday," Evanisko said. "You have Henry and Eleanor and their three sons, and they've invited the king of France and his sister to come, and they're all going to decide who is going to take over the kingdom when Henry dies."
He said each son wants to be king with the king having his favorite and Eleanor having hers.
"There's a lot of intrigue going on, and they all hate each other and it's a miserable Christmas," Evanisko said.
He added that the play centers around family disfunction.
"We can all relate to family disfunction, especially at the holidays," Evanisko said. "It's how Henry and Eleanor are dealing with the disfunction in their family and realizing their sons aren't quite the men that they thought they should be."
The seven-member cast consists of Wesley Layton as Henry II, king of England; Brianne France-Layton as Alais, a French princess; John D. Kurchak as John, the youngest son; Paul Mastovich as Geoffrey, the middle son; Owen P. Standley as Richard the Lionheart, the oldest son; Kate Castner Davis as Eleanor of Aquitaine, Henry II's wife; and Ethan J. Leydig as Philip, the king of France.
"The cast has done remarkably well, and each one has taken their role to heart and they have worked hard," Evanisko said. "I've had one-on-ones with each actor going over the character and they've really gone in their separate directions to show the distinct personalities of these characters. They delve into it and find new things that maybe even I didn't notice at first."
He said Columba Theatre Project serves as the perfect venue for the production.
"The idea of doing it at Columba helped solidify the choice of the play," Evanisko said. "You can see parts of the former church, and it's almost like it should be filmed there because it fits so well. The ambience at Columba add so much to the culture of the play, and it's wonderful being down there."
He said for audiences the hope is they'll recognize the dysfunction and see that maybe it isn't so insurmountable.
"Just because they're a king, queen or prince, they all have the same problems that we do and we're all the same regardless of our stations," Evanisko said.
Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for seniors, students and military.
They can be purchased online at www.bandofbrothersshakespeareco.org.
Tickets also will be available at the door.
