Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto

Father’s Day!

And what gifts Richard, Geoffrey, and John have planned for their father, King Henry II.  Knives – to be delivered point-first!  Knives which their mother, Eleanor of Acquitaine smuggled to them in the cellar where Henry had imprisoned them.  Nice family, huh?  Typical Unitarians.

• When: Monday, June 18, at  7 pm   Note change to Third Monday for this month only.
  AND Tuesday, June 25, at  7 pm
• Where: ROOM 9
• What:THE LION IN WINTER by JAMES GOLDMAN
• Who: UUCPA Thespians
• Why:To change places for a couple of hours with 7 larger-than-life characters who are very different from us.

Unlike last month’s play, a fictional drama whose protagonist Felicia had many points of similarity to the real Eva Peron, all seven of the characters in the LION are real historical figures.  Henry II of England married Eleanor of Aquitaine and had three grown sons Richard (the Lion-hearted), Geoffrey, and John (their first son, Henry, died as a young man).  Alais Capet, daughter of King Louis VII of France was betrothed to Richard as a child and was raised in Henry’s court.  Her brother was Philip II, King of France.  When Eleanor and the three surviving sons plotted unsuccessfully against Henry, he imprisoned her in her castle and took Alais as his mistress.  We know the facts, but do we know the people?

In his introduction, the author writes: “. . . I have never met these characters.  I made them up.  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.”

This play has 7 strong characters.  It will read best if have 7 readers.  Since we will read the play twice, and since we have been averaging 14 readers a month this year, that should just work out.  I am now accepting reservations for both dates, Monday June 18 and Tuesday June 26, and the first 7 requests for each date will be accepted. The easy way to do this is to send an email to thespians-info@uucpa.org but you can also call or snail-mail me.  Remember that you must show up promptly at 7 pm or your reservation may be forfeited.

Of course, you can still show up without a reservation, but if the roles are all taken you may have to settle for being   “audience”.

1. Philip Hodge, Chair of Thespians

PS  FYI on June 13 and 14 at 7:30 pm, the Stanford Theatre will be showing the movie “The Lion In Winter” starring Katherine Hepburn and Peter O’Toole.

UUCPA Thespians
Philip Hodge, Chair