Marie Wallace Scrapbook: The Lion in Winter

The Lion in Winter
In the winter of 1993, I had the opportunity and the pleasure of working with Jonathan Frid in a stage production of The Lion in Winter. (Jonathan and I had, of course, worked together on Dark Shadows years earlier; he played vampire Barnabas Collins.) We did Lion in Winter at the Georgia College Theatre in Milledgeville, Georgia. Jonathan directed and I played Eleanor of Aquitaine. David Moore, who became one of my close friends during that production, played my son, Richard. Peter Pause, a teacher at the college, and students from the Drama Department played the other roles.

Backstage, opening night.

With Jonathan Frid in the costume department.

The Play
The characters in The Lion in Winter are Henry II, King of England; his wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine (that was me); our sons -- John, the youngest and Henry's favorite; Richard, the oldest and Eleanor's favorite; and Geoffrey, the middle son and nobody's favorite, and a couple of friends. Well, I'm not sure friend is the correct word for the young French Princess, Alias. You see, Alias is King Henry's mistress, and, if you remember, Eleanor is King Henry's wife -- not a very friendly situation.

In any event, at the start of our play, Eleanor has been in captivity for almost 10 years. She had tried to start a war against her husband, King Henry, and for some reason, he didn't like that very much, so he had her captured and exiled to the tower of Salisbury. But Henry is not all bad, and he lets Eleanor out occasionally for good behavior, and the action of the play takes place during these times.

There is one intrigue upon another in this play and the best way to find out how it develops is to read it. It's quite exciting. It ends with a scene between Henry and Eleanor that goes beyond their anger and struggle and vindictiveness and you see the great love and respect they have for each other. It's quite a play.

Jonathan Frid with David Moore, who played one of my sons.

The Character
Eleanor is one of the most exciting characters I've ever worked on -- passionate, vital, dominating, clever, sensual, independent and LIBERATED! Even in the 20th Century, she would have been ahead of her time, but she lived in the 12th Century! As Duchess of Aquitaine, she was in command of as much territory as that possessed by the King of France. Her grandfather, Duke William IX, had idealized women and had instituted the COURT OF LOVE and had composed poetry and songs in favor of love, and she inherited his talents and carried on the tradition. She could compose a poem, set it to music, play it and sing it. She grew up with music and great literature and was a champion chess player. She loved chess because of the element of excitement in the conflict and ALWAYS emerged the victor. She surrounded herself with poets and troubadours, all of whom wrote love songs and poems idealizing Eleanor. This was the AGE OF CHIVALRY and to win her favor, a man had to have exquisite manners and be able to express himself with grace and beauty. She knew what she wanted and NEVER ALLOWED ANYONE OR ANYTHING TO PREVENT HER FROM DOING WHAT SHE WISHED -- quite a woman.

My
Three Sons
(in the play)

The director and cast at a party after our final performance.

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