![]() ![]() But, though Goldman's marital slugfest has echoes of Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, to a contemporary audience it has little relevance. The key to historical drama is some purchase on the present: true of everything from Brecht to Bolt. But the whole family is engaged in dynastic chess in which an empire is the prize, Henry's mistress is a convenient pawn, and the outcome is a weary, exhausted stalemate. Henry favours their puny youngest, John Eleanor backs their more regal Richard meanwhile, their middle son, Geoffrey, schemes in the background. Goldman's theme is the battle over the throne fought at Chinon in 1183 between Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine, his wife. It may have made a tolerable movie in 1968 but, seen on stage, it looks hollow and meretricious. What puzzles me is why Nunn, with all the riches of world drama at his disposal, should dredge up this Broadway hokum by James Goldman. ![]() T revor Nunn's tenure at the Haymarket has given us fine revivals of Rattigan, Stoppard and Shakespeare. ![]()
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