James Goldman’s The Lion In Winter tells the tale of a family Christmas that leads to a family at war.

An aging Henry II invites his estranged wife Eleanor of Aquitane and his three sons, Richard, Geoffrey and John, to spend the festive season with him, his mistress Princess Alais and her brother, the young King Philip of France. Will Henry name who is to be his successor as King of England? With tension in the air, the yuletide celebration turns into a combat zone of deceit, betrayal, bitter power games and scabrous wit.

The Lion In Winter premiered in New York in 1966, featuring a cast led by Rosemary Harris and Christopher Walken, and was revived on Broadway in 1999, when it starred Stockard Channing and Laurence Fishburne.

For this London production, Robert Lindsay returns to the stage to lead the cast of The Lion In Winter. The two-time Olivier Award winner, who is best known for his screen appearances in long-running sitcom My Family and BAFTA-winning drama GBH, last trod the boards in London when he took on the title role in Onassis.

Lindsay is joined in the cast of The Lion In Winter by Joanna Lumley. The former star of TV series including Absolutely Fabulous and The New Avengers recently made her Broadway debut in La Bête.

The Lion In Winter plays at the Theatre Royal Haymarket as part of the season directed by former National Theatre and Royal Shakespeare Company Artistic Director, Sir Trevor Nunn. This season also included Flare Path, Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead and The Tempest.

For more about The Lion In Winter at the Theatre Royal Haymarket read the First Night Feature.