The Lion in Winter
by James Goldman
In November 2025, I directed a script-in-hand reading of The Lion in Winter at Hampton Hill Theatre.
About The Lion in Winter
The Lion in Winter was written by James Goldman in 1966. Obstensively, it portrays the fight for power among Henry II of England, his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine, their children, and royal guests during Christmas in 1183. However, at its heart, it’s a story about a difficult family Christmas full of resentments, jockeying for favouritism, and bickering among people who know where it hurts most to stab, one that many families can recognise.
It’s a great script with lots of witty lines that runs at a fast pace. Many people might know it from its rather faithful adaptation into an award-winning film starring Peter O’Toole and Katharine Hepburn. The play is also widely regarded as the inspiration for the excellent series Succession.
If you want a masterclass in drama, watching both of these productions will set you in the right direction.
Casting
For rehearsed readings at Hampton Hill Theatre we don’t hold auditions, but instead the Artistic Director found the cast for me from the range of people he had seen auditioning recently for other productions.
I had never met any of the seven-member cast before rehearsals started. This meant that I was working with actors that I might not necessarily have thought to cast in each role. I found that I got a different set of performances than I would otherwise, which added an unexpected range to the performances.
Staging
A rehearsed reading is a text-in-hand production with minimal staging.
I chose a simple set and props so that we could add movement and meaning to the play without needing someone to read out the stage directions. These allowed us to focus on character dynamics.
The script takes place in a number of different rooms. To help orientate the audience, I marked the floor in a basic Cluedo style to also reflect the games the family were playing with each other. I then asked the actors to start the scene in one specific room room and, once the setting was established, use the rest of the space.
I used simple benches and restricted props to one item per room. Each prop was extra large and sprayed gold, again to mimic the Cluedo style.
Sound
I took inspiration for the sound from the fact that the play is thought to be one of the original inspirations behind the successful TV series Succession. This show has a brilliant soundtrack composed by Nicholas Britell. I used selected tracks from Succession at the beginning, middle and end.
The tone fitted well with the style I was looking to convey in my production, and also evoked the same dynamic of a family battling each other for power and control.
Listen to one of my Lion in Winter playlists on Spotify for a selection of the music I chose.
Costumes
I bought Christmas jumpers for each cast member, with the different colours highlighting the family alliances. For example, Eleanor of Aquitaine wore green, and the son she favoured also wore green. Henry wore red, as did the son he favoured.
I also backed this up by finding jumpers with different types of wild cat, reflecting the status of the character wearing it. This also linked to the title of the play, which refers to Henry being like a lion out of season.
This also worked stylistically, as the colours against the dark background were quite striking.
Rehearsals
We had one week in which to rehearse the play, which was intense, but we managed to achieve a lot in that time. We focused on character relationships and movement to help get across the emotional tone of the play.
It helped that the play is very witty and well written. By having scripts in hand, the actors were able to say the lines exactly as written and get the full benefit of the precise flow of the dialogue.
Full production
I will produce a full version for the November 2027 season, also in the studio.
I will keep certain elements from this production, but also add more, as this will be a full production. Given what we were able to achieve in one week, it should be lots of fun working on the characters and relationships over a full rehearsal period. I aim to add some new ideas and develop the character dynamics and dialogue to create a pacey, entertaining piece of theatre.
The Lion in Winter rehearsed reading November 2025
Cast and Crew
Geoffrey: Hugo Allain
Eleanor: Sue Bell
Richard Lionheart: Tim Erimkhan
John: Alfie Kennedy
Alais: Lucille Lee-Redman
Henry: Oliver Tims
Phillip: Brynn Wilson
Director: Karen Sheard