The Lion in Winter: A Cold Christmas

What is the appeal of The Lion in Winter for you?

The point is that you repeat something that has done well the last time. I last did this play 32 years ago and, 42 years ago, I was not the director but the stage manager when the play was staged. The play is based in 1183 in England but there needs to be a reason for it to connect with an audience in 2016 in Delhi, and that power lies in its relationships. The Lion in Winter is about relationships and passion — as most successful historical theatre or cinema is — that people identify with. When the relationship is set among royalty, it becomes larger than life.

Have you changed the script to suit modern sentiments?

I have rewritten chunks of the play. There are frictions among the mother’s favourite son and the father’s favourite son and the mother and father. One son, Richard, is gay and having an affair with the King of France, who is a sworn enemy of Henry. I have added a lot of intrigue. But, I made it a happy ending. You don’t want the audience to go home with a bitter taste in the mouth.