"The Lion in Winter" presented by The Autum Players - Aug 22-24

The Lion in Winter, a dramatic comedy by American playwright James Goldman, is scheduled for three matinee performances by The Autumn Players of Asheville Community Theatre (ACT):  Friday and Saturday, August 22 and 23, 2014 in 35below at ACT; Sunday, August 24, 2014 in the Manheimer Room at UNC Asheville's Reuter Center. Auditions are scheduled for 10:30 am - 2:30 pm on August 5, 2014 at ACT and are open to the community. Under the direction of Jim Reid and in partnership with Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at UNC Asheville, this is the last of five productions of the 2013-14 season of Readers Theatre Showcase. Curtain is at 2:30 pm. Tickets are $5 cash at the door. 

The Lion in Winter is both wicked and witty. There’s plenty of gamesmanship mixed with driving ambition when King Henry II and his wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine, who has been imprisoned by the King, gather at the palace with their three sons to determine who shall inherit the English throne. Though this hyper-dysfunctional family is from the Dark Ages, audiences will be excused if they wonder whether not-too-different conversations ever took place at family gatherings of the Kennedys, Bushes or Clintons.

 

Director Jim Reid has performed with The Autumn Players on several occasions. And, last season, he directed his first Readers Theatre Showcase production, Mary, Mary. His favorite playwright continues to be the Bard of Avon – Happy 450^th! While Jim and his wife Linda reside across the border in Johnson City, they consider Asheville to be their second home. 

The Autumn Players is ACT's volunteer outreach company consisting of over 100 seasoned actors, directors, writers and event organizers dedicated to taking theatre into the community.  Since 1992, the company has provided entertainment, enrichment, and education for thousands of students, seniors, and in-betweens at venues within an hour or more from Asheville.  

For more information or for a full schedule of the Readers Theatre Showcase series, please visit www.ashevilletheatre.org.