If you’ve never been involved in a theater production then it might be difficult to truly appreciate what Nina Capriola, Jeff Heyer and the Actors Collective are doing at the Circle Theatre this week.

They are staging James Goldman’s celebrated tale, The Lion in Winter, for two nights only. Let’s get something straight: this is not the kind of production you just slap together on a whim. It’s a fascinating, complex look inside one of history’s most powerful and dysfunctional families as they feud and intrigue over the succession to the English throne. It’s an epic drama with no minor characters that features two kings, three princes, a princess and a queen. It’s a huge undertaking.

So why would a group of experienced actors with day jobs go to so much trouble for two performances? Not for the money, that’s for sure. Both shows are a benefit for the Colleagues of the Arts, an organization committed to providing resources to help gifted students. To hear Jeff Heyer explain it, the reason is simple.

“We wanted to do something that challenged us,” he says. “We’re doing this play simply because we love it. It’s up there with Shakespeare. It is so beautifully written...there are more quotable lines in one page than most plays have in three whole acts.”

He’s right. Goldman’s play is about as close as you’re going to get to the Bard in the modern era of drama. History tells us who won the internecine squabble at the center of the play, but the outcome of the conflict is less important than the relationships that provide the structure and the brilliantly witty language that ornaments this outstanding text.

It’s Christmas at Chinon castle in what we now think of as France, though in 1183, it was part of England (indeed, to some English kings of that era, their holdings on the mainland were more important than the little offshore island). King Henry II has gathered his family together, including the queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine, who has spent the past 10 years in prison for plotting against the king. Henry is concerned with his own mortality, and the three princes, Richard, Geoffrey, and John, all want the crown. Henry has promised it to John, the youngest, but Eleanor wants it for Richard, her own favorite. Political scheming runs rampant and emotional manipulation distorts many of the relationships. But Henry and Eleanor are human beings with their soft spots, and that’s ultimately why we find ourselves caring about these seemingly terrible people.

“Nina has wanted to do this play for the last 10 years,” Heyer says, “I’ve been just as keen on it. I’ve always felt that [it] was one of the few plays written in this century that people will still be watching 300 years from now…Nina finally convinced me that, practical or not, it was time to do a benefit show and that Lion in Winter should be it.”

To pull this thing off, the nascent theater company has brought together a fiercely dedicated and talented cast which includes Heyer and Capriola in the lead roles of Henry II and Queen Eleanor. Director Greg Harbert is a 15-year veteran of Monterey Bay performing arts and current technical director for CSUMB’s World Theater.

Ryan Trasker, most recently of The Western Stage (All My Sons, Arsenic and Old Lace) portrays Henry’s rival Philip, King of France. Greg Falge, an out-of-town actor who did some work with the now-defunct Magic Circle Theater, takes up the broad sword to play the eldest surviving son, Richard the Lionheart. Geoffrey, the middle son, is played by Troy Osteraa, while the young princess Alais is played by Jennie Kiatta—both also TWS alums. The youngest of Henry’s sons, John, is played by newcomer Taylor Ogletree.

“He is the boy who will be king and you can see why he will not be a good king,” Heyer says. “This is Taylor’s first dramatic role and we’re all really impressed with him. We wanted to let him do something that his age was generally not allowing him to do. He’s given himself to it heart and soul.”

Yet despite all evidence to the contrary, Heyer is hesitant to call this new venture a “company.”

“I’m not sure if we’re exactly a theater company,” he explains. “We’re a group of people who want to do some stuff that’s not necessarily big-ticket-selling things. As theater has gotten the squeeze and people have changed the way they spend their entertainment dollars, theaters are getting more conservative, understandably, and producing blander work. We want to be free of those constraints.”

As for the future of the Actors Collective, Heyer is cautiously philosophical.

“We’re not entirely sure. We love it’s happening. We’re loving working together. We’re loving the piece. But it’s such a huge effort to get this production together,” he concedes. “When we finally get this up, we will all race off to our other various jobs and catch up with everything. When all the dust settles, we’ll see. It’s a lot of effort for two nights.”

THE LION IN WINTER OPENS TUESDAY AT 8PM AND PLAYS AGAIN AT 8PM WEDNESDAY AT THE CIRCLE THEATER, MONTE VERDE AND 8TH, CARMEL. AUDIENCES INTERESTED IN SEEING PART OF THE PROCESS ARE INVITED TO THE FINAL DRESS REHEARSAL ON MONDAY AT 8PM. ADMISSION IS FREE, BUT AUDIENCE MEMBERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO DONATE $15 OR MORE TO THE COLLEAGUES OF THE ARTS. CALL 771-9089.