Dubai Drama Group (DDG, Dubai’s oldest community theatre group) opens its season with James Goldman’s medieval drama, "The Lion in Winter", a darkly amusing tale of power, death, love and high-stakes family politics.
Christmas, 1183. King Henry’s three sons all want the throne, but Henry won’t commit. Queen Eleanor, freed for the festivities after 10 years of imprisonment at the hands of her husband, has her own plans for the crown.
Audiences will love the script’s fast pace, the character’s evolving power plays, and its continued relevance to the modern era: manipulation, deceit and ambition never really get old. That’s what the director, Penny Mackenzie, found so appealing. A firm staple of the Dubai theater scene, this will be the fourth production Penny has led for DDG. “The script is brilliantly tongue-in-cheek. These characters are doing really horrible things to each other, but they do it with such confidence and charm that you somehow still find yourself rooting for them.”
The cast – both established local talent and fresh faces – all clearly relish the more sinister aspects of their characters. As every actor will tell you, playing the villain is so much fun… and here every character is a villain.
The Lion in Winter has enjoyed numerous stage and screen adaptations since its 1966 Broadway debut. The play was adapted into a 1968 film, with Peter O'Toole as Henry and Katharine Hepburn as Eleanor, and again in 2003 with Patrick Stewart and Glenn Close. The Fox TV drama "Empire" is explicitly based on "The Lion in Winter", transplanting the themes of family rivalry, power and deception to a modern American context.
Performance dates and times:
- Thursday 22nd November 8pm
- Friday 23rd November 4pm
- Friday 23rd November 8pm
- Saturday 24th November 8pm
Entrance is by guest list. Please register your attendance
Image Credit: The Courtyard Playhouse
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