Rob Roy stars as King Henry II in A2CT's "The Lion in Winter."

Photo by Tom Steppe

If your family often drives you nuts during the holidays, consider this: at least daggers and adultery and scheming aren’t usually part of the equation.

But these things are a significant part of the 12th century royal family Christmas gathering depicted in James Goldman’s classic comic drama, “The Lion in Winter,” now being staged by Ann Arbor Civic Theatre.

Aging Henry II, King of England (Rob Roy), aims to make his youngest, whiny, favorite son John (Eli Tell) heir to the throne, but both the oldest son, Richard (Jarrod Cassar), a military hero, and overlooked, clever middle son Geoffrey (Anthony L. Morton), have their own designs on the crown.

Richard has a champion in his mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine (Laurie Atwood), whom Henry imprisoned in another castle after she took part in insurrections against him 10 years earlier. During this interim, Henry’s made a mistress of the young Alais (Anna Paone) - sister of Philip, King of France (Richard Graham) - despite the fact that she was intended for one of the sons, and that Eleanor essentially raised her from a young age.

The hands-down star of "Lion" is the script, which is packed with sharp, witty dialogue. The stakes of the story are high, but the tone is often darkly comic, making “Lion” a perfect combination of intrigue - with a dramatic question that drives the action and builds suspense - and humor. (“What shall we hang? The holly, or each other?” is just one of several great lines.)

Plus, the play’s depiction of family is timeless, in that love somehow underlies all the dysfunction, and the dynamics - like Henry’s preference for John, who seems to have nothing to recommend him - don’t always make sense.

Director Thom Johnson’s cast handles the material fairly well, for the most part, but the production’s best moments are the verbal showdowns between Henry and Eleanor. This is partly because their relationship is the one most fraught with friction, since they have the ultimate love/hate connection, but it’s also because Roy and Atwood serve up the strongest performances. They play off each other well, and Atwood in particular skillfully delivers some of the evening’s biggest laugh lines.

The production’s energy flags a bit in the latter portion of the first act - which isn’t helped by a rather lengthy scene change to set up Philip’s chamber - but Johnson’s “Lion” otherwise moves at a good clip, clocking a running time (with intermission) of two hours and twenty minutes. Cathy Cassar’s set, along with Debra Golden’s props, are spare but suggestive enough to establish an appropriate sense of time and place; the same can be said of Nan Wirth’s costumes, which look regal and elegant without being fussy.

One small quibble concerns the music used as connective tissue between scenes. It’s wholly appropriate in style and tone, but when the lights come up, the music suddenly stops (instead of fading out), and the effect is both jarring and distracting.

Overall, though, A2CT’s “Lion” reminded me - since I hadn’t seen the film version in years - of the pleasures of Goldman’s masterfully written banter. Yes, the story may be set in the distant past, and the play itself premiered almost 50 years ago; but thanks to a timelessly funny script, the show still feels fresh and fun. So despite its age, "Lion" hasn't lost its bite.

Jenn McKee is an entertainment reporter for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at jennmckee@annarbor.com or 734-623-2546, and follow her on Twitter @jennmckee.