Post-Show ‘Connect the Dots’ Activity
![Three people in medieval robes stand in a horizontal line. They're all looking at something off to the side.](https://www.courttheatre.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Untitled-design-2023-11-07T110439.316.png)
Engage in independent internet research, discussion, and reflection as you explore connections between the themes in The Lion in Winter and related history and culture.
‘Connect the Dots’ Activity
- Activity Preparation
- Supplies:
- You may wish to put your thoughts to pen and paper, or use a device to do some basic internet research as you consider these questions!
- Supplies:
Use these questions to reflect, discuss, or journal about your experience and reactions to The Lion in Winter! Explore any of the questions that interest you.
- Make a list of sensational family squabbles and dramatic dynamics that have captivated the public over the years, either fictional or rooted in history. Think: Succession, Empire, the Sackler family, Dynasty, the Vanderbilts, the British royal family, or The Crown. Consider the following questions:
- Why does the public develop such ravenous interest in families like these?
- Why does that intense fascination endure over time and throughout history?
- Consider Goldman’s Eleanor of Aquitaine alongside perhaps the most famous woman in a dramatic text — Lady Macbeth.
- How does Lady Macbeth contrast or correlate with Eleanor of Aquitaine?
- What circumstances have driven these women to be the way they are?
- How do power and gender interact in both Macbeth and The Lion in Winter?
- Consider gender more broadly.
- How does Goldman’s play both acknowledge and subvert the history of women as property?
- What message of gender politics is the audience left with?
- This play is set at a real moment in history and with historical figures at its center. The action takes place over 900 years ago; the play itself was written almost 60 years ago. Consider the following questions:
- What makes this story endure?
- What makes it feel relevant in this day and age?
- If you are familiar with the 1968 film starring Peter O’Toole and Katharine Hepburn, consider the following questions:
- What differences between these productions stand out the most to you?
- In what ways does film as a medium lend itself to the telling of this story?
- In what ways does theatre accomplish something when telling this story that a film cannot?
- This activity aligns with the following standards:
- Illinois Arts Learning Standards
- Anchor Standard 7: Perceive and analyze artistic work.
- Anchor Standard 8: Construct meaningful interpretations of artistic work.
- Anchor Standard 11: Relate artistic ideas and works with societal, cultural, and historical context to deepen understanding.
- Common Core State Standards
- CCSS.ELA.W10 Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences.
- CCSS.ELA.RL.3 Analyze how and why individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact over the course of a text.
- CCSS.ELA.RL.9 Analyze how two or more texts address similar themes or topics in order to build knowledge or to compare the approaches the authors take.
- Illinois Arts Learning Standards