A family in revolt at Yelm’s Triad Theater
By Alec Clayton
Published in the Weekly Volcano, March 14, 2019
from left: Will Champagne as King Phillip, Jesse Geray as Richard, Dawn Wadsworth as Queen Eleanor, Dave Champagne as King Henry II, Daniel Wyman as Geoffrey, Victoria Ashley as Alais and Travis Martinez as John. Photocourtesy Standing Room Only.
The historical facts are confusing and colored with speculation and rumor. Eleanor, whom Henry II married when he was 18, was one of the most powerful women in Europe. She had previously been married to Louis VII of France and was later imprisoned for 10 years by Henry who then controlled all of England and half of France.
Alias was eight years old when first sent to Henry, who
signed a contract of marriage between her and his son Richard, later to be
called the Lionheart. Both Henry and Eleanor were reputed to have had many
affairs. She was even reputed to have had an affair with Henry’s father.
Alais (Victoria Ashley) and Henry (Dave Champagne) |
In the play, Alais (Victoria Ashley) and Henry (Dave
Champagne) are lovers, which Eleanor (Dawn Wadsworth) knows. She thinks of
Alais as both a rival and a daughter. To further complicate the plot, Alais is promised
with a dowry to marry Richard (Jesse Geray), who is accused of having had a
homosexual affair with King Phillip of France (Will Champagne), and all three
sons are fighting over who is to be the next King of England. These juicy and
complicated palace intrigues and family feuds are brought to light during a
weekend in the palace at Christmas when Henry lets Eleanor come home for a
holiday visit.
The plot is complicated but clear. The acting by the
principles: Ashley, Dave Champagne and Wadsworth, is outstanding. Champagne
plays King Henry as sly, devious and volatile; Wadsworth is imperial in
demeanor as the powerful Eleanor; and as Alais, Ashley comes across as, at
first, innocent and loving but eventually strong and clever enough to hold her
own with the back-stabbing royal family. It is a joy to watch these three at
work.
Actors portraying the three sons and King Phillip are not as
compelling. All four seemed stiff and uncomfortable in their roles at first but
become much stronger in the second act.
The most entertaining scene in the play is the first scene of
the second act in which Henry and Eleanor have the stage alone and engage in a
convoluted battle of wit, and creative invective. This entire scene is an
acting and writing tour de force. It’s like George and Martha from Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf
transported back to the 12th century. It’s a scene that could stand
alone as a one-act. And it is a warm-up to the bombast to follow when wife and
sons plot to murder the king.
The massive set is one of the play’s biggest assets and
biggest burdens. It consists of various rooms in the castle with heavy stone
walls and marvelous props, ornately carved furniture, lamps, swords, carpets
and massive wine bottles — a much larger and more impressive set than is
usually seen in small community theaters. The downside to that is that set
changes are long, cumbersome and distracting.
The play runs approximately two and one-half hours including
intermission.
The Lion in Winter, 7:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 3 p.m. Sunday
through March 30, $20, $17 military and seniors, $10 students, Triad Theater, 102
E. Yelm Ave., Yelm, 360.458.3140, http://www.srotheater.org/
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