Season 2012 THE LION IN WINTER HTC Artspace Exhibition

This year the Artspace celebrates the 60th Anniversary of the Heidelberg Theatre Company, featuring archival posters, programmes, photos and newspaper articles, mapping the history of the theatre and highlighting the wonderful plays presented over the years - as well as a display of interesting and beautiful costumes on the Mezzanine.

The display for our first play of 2012 covers the first 20 years of the Company. These documents have been collected by various members of the theatre over many years and we thank them for being aware of the importance of preserving our history.

We hope you enjoy the journey with us through the sixty memorable years of Heidelberg Theatre Company

HEIDELBERG THEATRE COMPANY (HTC) BOOKINGS 03 9457 4117 ENQUIRIES 03 9455 3039 EMAIL [email protected] WEB www.htc.org.au HTC is a member of the Victorian Drama League. HTC acknowledges financial assistance from the City of Banyule. HEIDELBERG THEATRE COMPANY

by arrangement with Dominie Pty Ltd

23 Feb - 10 Mar 2012 A Note from the playwright “The historical material on Henry’s reign is considerable insofar as battles, plots, wars, treaties, and alliances are concerned. This play - while simplifying the political manoeuvring combining a meeting of the French and English Kings in 1183 with a Royal Court held at Windsor in the following year into a Christmas Court that never was - is accurately based on the available data. The facts we have, while clear enough as to the outcome of relationships - such things as who kills who and when - say little if anything about the quality and content of these relationships. The people in this play, their character and passions, while consistent with the facts we have, are fictitious. The play, finally, contains anachronisms in speech, thought, habit, custom and so on. Those the author is aware of - the way, for instance, Christmas is celebrated - are deliberate and not intended to outrage the historical aspects of the script.” -James Goldman.

About the playwright and the play

Long before the term "dysfunctional" was commonly applied to families, James Goldman gave the world a glimpse of this age-old phenomenon by creating for the stage the members of England's original Plantagenet family: King Henry II, , and their sons. Although best known for this play, ‘The Lion in Winter’, and the screenplay for the resultant movie, Goldman was a prolific writer who based many of his novels, plays, and screenplays on history, a subject he dearly loved. Goldman's written work is evidence of this fascination with history. Russian history studies led him to write about Tolstoy, Czar Nicholas, and Anna Karenina. But his specialty seems to have been English history, with twelfth century ruler Henry II as the central character in ‘The Lion in Winter’, and he used thirteenth-century as the subject of his novel ‘Myself as Witness’ and in the film ‘Robin and Marian’. "I read about the things they did, I studied them and then imagined what they felt and thought and said and wanted from their lives. What they were really like, of course, no one will ever know," wrote James Goldman in his preface to The Lion in Winter. In 1980 he wrote, "The truth of things is always underneath. It has to be imagined." Goldman describes ‘The Lion in Winter’ not as a drama but ‘a comedy in two acts’. “He understood what comedy was about” said his agent and wife, Barbara Goldman, in an interview. “ ‘The Lion in Winter’ could have been a tragedy as easily as a comedy. And it has to do with his point of view of the world. He viewed himself as a comedic writer. I think his sense of humour was everything about him.” James Goldman was born in Chicago on June 30, 1927. James and brother William, 4 years his junior, wrote collaboratively for film, television, and theatre (‘A Family Affair’, ‘Stanley Poole’). Both received Academy Awards for their screenwriting, but at separate times for separate films: James won for ‘The Lion in Winter’ (1969) while William won for ‘Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid’ (1970) and ‘All the President's Men’ (1977). James collaborated with Stephen Sondheim on ‘Evening Primrose’ (1966) and ‘Follies’ (1971). Goldman began writing ‘Follies’ in 1965 as a murder mystery, but eventually took it to Broadway and won the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Musical (1971). The 1987 London revival of ‘Follies’ garnered the Olivier Award for the year's best musical. After earning an undergraduate degree from the University of Chicago, Goldman was drafted and served in the U.S. Army. He later attended Columbia University in New York City, where he studied musicology, but eventually decided that writing would be his career. Goldman wrote every day, seven days a week. Hollywood has turned many theatre scripts into huge film successes, and while ‘The Lion in Winter’ is among those, it also remains a classic of modern theatre. Goldman wrote that “ ‘The Lion in Winter’ was more than reprieved by the movie. It was transformed into a theatre work that has been performed all over the world.” The film version marked milestones in several careers: Goldman's Academy Award for the screenplay and also a Golden Globe nomination; 's third of four Oscars; an Oscar nomination and Golden Globe Award for Peter O'Toole; the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Film of 1968; Anthony Hopkins's film debut playing Henry's son, Prince Richard; and Timothy Dalton's film debut as Prince Philip. Goldman distinguished himself as a writer in several genres, including novels (‘Myself as Witness’, ‘Waldorf’, ‘The Man from Greek and Roman’, ‘Fulton County’), short stories (‘White Nights’), theatre (‘The Lion in Winter’, ‘They Might Be Giants’; ‘Blood, Sweat, and Stanley Poole’), television (‘Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna’), film (‘The Lion in Winter’, ‘Nicholas and Alexandra’, ‘Robin and Marian’, ‘White Nights’), and musical theatre (‘Follies’, ‘Evening Primrose’). ‘The Lion In Winter’ was first performed at Heidelberg Theatre Company in 1983. Players

Eleanor of Aquitaine – Juliet Hayday Henry II, King of England – Chris McLean Richard (the eldest son) – Tom Stammers John (the youngest son) – John Murphy Geoffrey (the middle son) – Tim Camilleri Alais (a French princess) – Julia Christensen Philip II, King of France – Kieran Tracey

CHINON CASTLE - LOIRE VALLEY - 1183

ACT I Scene 1. Alais’ Chamber Scene 2. The Great Hall Scene 3. Eleanor’s Chamber Scene 4. The Great Hall Scene 5. Eleanor’s Chamber Scene 6. Philip’s Chamber ACT II Scene 1. Henry’s Chamber Scene 2. Alais’ Chamber Scene 3. The wine cellar Production Team

DIRECTOR Karen Wakeham

PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Joan Moriarty

STAGE MANAGER Melanie Belcher

STAGE ASSISTANT Bobbie Parish

SET DESIGN George Tranter

LIGHTING DESIGN Deryk Hartwick

COSTUMES Wendy Drowley & Cathy Christensen

PROPERTIES Bronwyn Parker & HTC Members

SET CONSTRUCTION Owen Evans, Sam Gilbert, Doug McNaughton, Dennis Pain, Paddy Moriarty, Malcolm Cother, Des Harris, Neville Wilkie & HTC Members

MEDIEVAL FURNITURE Neville Wilkie

LIGHTING OPERATION Jennifer Jackson

SOUND OPERATION Bruce Moorhouse

PHOTOGRAPHY Patricia Tyler

POSTER & PROGRAM Chris McLean

REHEARSAL PHOTOGRAPHY Barry Lockett

BOX OFFICE Toni Tyers, June Cherrey, Linda Coutts, Jenni Purdey

FRONT OF HOUSE Patricia Tyler & HTC members

There will be an interval of 15 minutes during which refreshment will be available in the foyer.

To assist those with hearing difficulties, a hearing loop is installed in the theatre—seats 1 to 10 in rows A to F. HTC gratefully acknowledges a City of Banyule grant for this service. KAREN WAKEHAM (Director) Karen first came to HTC in 2010 to assist on ‘The Pain Killer’, liked it, and stayed. In the 60s and 70s Karen directed ‘The Shifting Heart’ and ‘Ballerina’ at Malvern, ‘Truganini’ and ‘Summer of the 17th Doll’ for Pumpkin, and more experimental Australian new work at La Mama. As Theatre Studies teacher, her productions ranged from ‘(West Side Story’, and ‘JC Superstar’ to the very different challenges posed by the plays of Stoppard, Miller, Wilde, Moliere, Dickens, Beckett, Williamson, Hibberd, Sophocles...

JULIET HAYDAY (Eleanor) Juliet’s previous roles at HTC are Dorothy Lintott in ‘The History Boys’; a geriatric rabbi, a Mormon mother and Ethel Rosenberg in ‘Angels in America: Part One’, and Ma Joad in ‘The Grapes of Wrath’. Juliet has worked extensively in Melbourne amateur theatre and favourite roles include Beatrix in ‘Life After George’ (Brighton), ‘B’ in ‘Three Tall Women’ (Mitcham), Sister Aloysius in ‘Doubt’ (Mordialloc), Vivian Bearing in ‘Wit’ (Encore) and Margrethe in ‘Copenhagen’ (Williamstown). She is delighted to be playing Eleanor, whose story has long captivated her .

CHRIS McLEAN (Henry) has previously appeared at Heidelberg Theatre Company in productions of ‘The 39 Steps’, ‘Art’, ‘Sylvia’, ‘Uncle Vanya’ and ’The Imaginary Invalid’. He has also performed with Malvern Theatre: ‘Angel on My Shoulder’ and ‘The Price’ and with Williamstown Little Theatre: ‘Hysteria’ and ‘Honour’. Also for HTC, Chris has directed ‘Noises Off’, ‘The Memory of Water’ and ‘Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead’. TOM STAMMERS (Richard) Tom has been spending the last few years working with the VCE Drama and Theatre Studies classes at Marcellin College. In between, he has been narrating audio books at Vision Australia. His last acting endeavour was back in 2008, performing in the Throwback Players' production of ‘Sweeney Todd’ so he relishes the chance to get back on stage!

TIM CAMILLERI (Geoffrey) Tim’s an avid actor who recently helped to write and direct HTC Youth’s production of ‘The Wizard of Oz’, in which he also appeared as the Wizard himself. Tim was also an actor in last year’s highly successful Melbourne Fringe Festival show ‘The American Astronaut’, appearing as the maniacal Professor Hess. In ‘The Lion In Winter’ he once again enjoys playing a devious, if somewhat less crazy, character in Geoffrey.

JOHN MURPHY (John) This is John’s debut with the Heidelberg Theatre Company. His first stage role was Tiny Tim in a musical adaptation of Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’ in 2000. John partook in many high school productions including ‘’A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ and ‘Anything Goes’ and was most recently in Brighton Theatre Company’s production of ‘Kimberly Akimbo’. John has enjoyed this opportunity to play a bratty teenager, despite no real-life experience to draw upon , and hopes to work with HTC again soon. JULIA CHRISTENSEN (Alais) Julia has appeared in the HTC Youth productions of ‘A Midsummer Night's Dream’ and ‘Alice in Wonderland’, training in courses with and performing through the MTC and NIDA. A recent graduate of all-girls school, Julia is still adjusting to performing with male characters actually played by male actors, herself having taken the roles of Moon in Stoppard's 'Inspector Hound' and Salieri in Shaffer's 'Amadeus'. Through her schooling years Julia has also performed in VCE Season of Excellence for Top Class Drama for 2011.

KIERAN TRACEY (Philip) ‘The Lion in Winter’ is Kieran's first production with Heidelberg Theatre Company. Previously he has appeared in ‘Allo Allo’ and ‘Proof’ at Lilydale Athenaeum Theatre Company and ‘The Drawer Boy’ with The Basin Theatre Company. He also recently returned from a stint in Europe, acting and teaching Italian children to speak English.

HTC 2012 - CELEBRATING 60 YEARS  An Inspector Calls  The Importance of Being Earnest  Summer of the Seventeenth Doll  Arsenic & Old Lace

Playbill / Subscription: 9457-4117 www.htc.org.au Production Team members

Joan

Melanie Wendy

Jennifer

Bronwyn Dennis Des

Owen Sam Paddy Neville THE LION IN WINTER Heidelberg Theatre Company Season 2012 Play 1