"The main characters in James Goldman's play ""The Lion in Winter"" are Henry II, his sons John, Geoffrey & Richard, his mistress Alais Capet, and which other?"
The Lion in Winter revivals. Set during Christmas 1183 at Henry II of England's castle in Chinon, Anjou, Angevin Empire, the play opens with the arrival of Henry's wife Eleanor of Aquitaine, whom he has had imprisoned since 1173. The story concerns the gamesmanship between Henry, Eleanor, their three surviving sons Richard, Geoffrey, and John, and their Christmas Court guest, the King of France, Philip II "Augustus" (), who was the son of Eleanor's ex-husband, Louis VII of France (by his third wife, Adelaide). Also involved is Philip's half-sister Alais (by Louis VII's second wife Constance), who has been at court since she was
The Lion in Winter Colony Theater Company in Burbank, California starred Mariette Hartley as Eleanore and Ian Buchanan as Henry. Brendan Ford played Richard, and Hartley's daughter Justine as Alais. "The Lion in Winter" is fictional and none of the dialogue and actions are historical; there was not a Christmas Court at Chinon in 1183. However, the events leading up to the story are generally accurate. There is no definitive evidence that Alais was Henry's mistress (although Richard later resisted marrying Alais on the basis of this claim). The real Henry had many mistresses (and several illegitimate children). Eleanor had persuaded their sons to