Review: THE LION IN WINTER at PICT Classic Theatre Provides Entertaining Night Led By Veteran Performer

Few things are as riveting as watching an actor or actress that demands an audience's attention 100% of the time while they are onstage/onscreen. Immediately, I think of Patti LuPone in Gypsy. Granted, Mama Rose is a role that's designed to be all-consuming, but LuPone was raved about as being mesmerizing, so much so that she inevitably won the Tony Award in 2008. Leonardo DiCaprio in Martin Scorsese's 2013 film The Wolf of Wall Street is another performance that comes to mind when I think of actors that require every ounce of my attention. Though a controversial film, DiCaprio was universally hailed for his brilliant portrayal of the morally questionable Jordan Belfort, so much so that he garnered himself an Oscar nomination.

This leads me to PICT Classic Theatre's recent production of THE LION IN WINTER. Of course, there was no LuPone or DiCaprio featured in this production, but the local Pittsburgh audiences that did show up were treated to what may have been one of the finest performances of the year by Alan Stanford as Henry.

THE LION IN WINTER is, to put it quite simply, a family comedy during Christmas time. That family just happens to be a royal family and the show just happens to be set in England circa 1183. King Henry is trying to figure out which of his three sons will succeed him and who will inherit most of what he has, all while dealing with the fact that he has imprisoned his Queen and is also trying to juggle a mistress (who he was supposed to have married to one of his sons). When the show finally concludes, nothing really changes about any members of the family's current positions, but the way we go about reaching the conclusions is what is so engaging.

Though much of the cast is terrific, the entire production seems to rest squarely on Alan Stanford's (King Henry) shoulders. From the moment he walked onto the stage, myself and the person who accompanied me in seeing the show were aware that we were about to see something special. Stanford is a hulking presence with a deep, bassy voice and impeccable comedic timing. It's rare to find performances that are as commanding as his was. Every single gesture, every single pause, every action he made was interesting and engaging. The dynamic he shared with his mistress was able to show his more tender and heartfelt side, whereas all of his interactions with his sons and his wife provided a comically exasperated side. His monologue where he denies his sons in Act I gave me goosebumps and the final scene in the wine cellar with his boys was painstakingly breathtaking. This was a powerhouse performance by a veteran actor and made it worth seeing this production by itself.

Karen Baum as Alias, Henry's mistress, did really terrific work with her role. It seemed like it was onstage less frequently than some of the other characters, and I found myself always wishing she would come back onstage and interact with the story more, because Baum's earnest and innocent portrayal of Alias was incredibly touching and sweet. She had superb diction, chewing every single one of her words, and the chemistry she displayed with Stanford was top-notch. I was rooting for her and her relationship with Henry throughout the entirety of the play.

Cary Anne Spear took some time getting used to as Eleanor, but by the end of the show she had won me over. I felt like at the start of the show that she lacked a royal presence that I believed Stanford and Baum to have, but as the show went on, she began to become more and more believable. One of her sons compares her to Euripides' Medea and I kept looking for her to become that and though she never felt quite as gleefully conniving, I did enjoy watching her try to play everybody all at once to obtain her goal. She did, however, have some very nice moments with Henry (both comedic and poignant) and an especially strong beat when she spoke on how freedom saved her humanity.

Gregory Johnstone as Geoffrey was an absolute delight. When the sons were all first introduced, I wasn't exactly sure who I should've been rooting for, but Johnstone immediately captured my attention and I was with him for the rest of the night. He seemed to be the most relatable and believable of the sons. More than that, Johnstone provided a consistency whenever he was onstage. He always gave me the impression that he was watching and listening to everybody else, like he was the smartest man in the room. When he was onstage with the rest of the cast, I always knew I could depend on him for sturdiness and strong, seasoned choices.

Richard was portrayed by Tony Bingham, and I liked a lot of what he did with his character, and especially enjoyed him after his initial crowning. At the start of the show, I thought he brought a very powerful energy and presence to the cast, but at times he almost seemed too aggressive and forceful. I kept thinking that I really wanted him to find more colors with the character, and after his crowning, he did just that. He became a bit more subdued and nuanced and had some very nice scenes with both his mother and at the end of Act I he was a large piece of an incredibly powerful moment between him, Henry, and Phillip.

Matt Henderson as John never really quite clicked with me. I understood that he was the youngest in the family and probably the most immature of the sons, but it seemed like a lot of what he was doing was playing an attitude instead of playing an intention, which was not ideal. While it did appear that he was listening and responding to everything that was being said onstage, which is good, he did so by making a copious amount of outrageously large scowls and expressions that were quite distracting and made it difficult to root for him. I think if he just dialed everything back, he would've came off as more believable as the young and largely unqualified prince that Henry wanted to pass his throne along to.

Dylan Marquis Meyers as Phillip at the start of the show appeared to have a rather thankless role with a brief cameo appearance. In it, he was deliciously slimy and conniving and very interesting. It wasn't until near the end of Act I that he appeared again and played a major role in a scene that was quite unexpected and brilliantly executed by all involved. When the scene between him, Richard, and Henry concluded I was in utter shock. I'm always very impressed when actors and writers manage to shock an audience and it was handled perfectly here.

John Shepard's directing was quite effective. The tableaus that he created in different scene transitions worked beautifully and the way in which he was able to weave his actors around the rather large space was wonderful. Though the audience was on both sides of the stage, it never seemed as if one side was getting deprived of good moments or angles, largely in part to Shepard's steady hand at the helm of the production.

Joan Markert appropriately captured the look of nobility in 1183 England with her costume design and Johnmichael Bohach's set design gave off an accurate feeling of strength and power with an underlying sense of tension surging through our royal family. Keith A. Traux also added to the aesthetic with a wonderful lighting design that was most effective during the early tableaus.

Overall, PICT Classic Theatre provided audiences with a wonderfully entertaining night of theatre sprinkled in with some genuinely poignant and touching moments by a stellar ensemble of performances, led by one of the finest performances of this season thus far, and I eagerly anticipate my next PICT experience.

8.75/10

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