Tickets were gifted in return for an honest review
Christopher Marlowe's historical play is given a riveting revival by director Daniel Raggett with co-artistic director Daniel Evans taking the titular role.
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| Daniel Evans and Eloka Ivo. Photo by Helen Murray. |
The play follows the King's presumed gay relationship with Gaveston, touching on themes which remain relevant even over 400 years after the play was written. There are moments of homophobia and brutality that make for a very uncomfortable watch at times. That is before you're faced with bloody violence.
There's a natural darkness to the piece throughout and the somber tone is set as soon as you enter the beautiful Swan Theatre. As an audience member, you are invited on to the stage to participate in a procession as the dead King Edward I lies in state. The tone is set for the next hundred minutes of tense and bloody theatre.
The play opens with Edward II's favourite Gaveston (an excellent Eloka Ivo) wrapped in a towel in a sauna, discussing his chance to return to England and the chance to reunite with Edward. As the pair reunite, they hug and they kiss in front of their peers. Much to the dismay of those around him, Edward begins to shower Gaveston with titles and money.
The growing discourse by the King's nobles who want Gaveston banished. Those voices are joined by Edward's Queen Isabella (a demure yet often softly spoken Ruta Gedmintas) whose own romantic endeavours with Mortimer (Enzo Cilenti) begin to drive her. Plots begin to murder Gaveston and this eventually happens, setting the tone of bloodshed that continues throughout. The bloodshed leads to a striking conclusion which shocks with its brutality.
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| Photo by Helen Murray |
Evans is superb as Edward, he delivers the text with real passion and that passion carries through his interactions with Ivo's Gaveston and his peers. Their fizzling relationship is sweetly captured, you can sense just how infatuated the King is and how much he is risking for the relationship.
Raggett's direction drives the action and keeps you interested throughout. Paired with a strong visual aesthetic. Leslie Travers' staging uses a retractable stage which pulls away to reveal a bleak barren land of mud and puddles where Edward finds himself later on in the piece. This bleak tone is matched by Tim Lutkin's considered soft tonal lighting. The only downside to the staging is you often have scenes upstage where characters, particularly the noble lords, interact in dimly lit scenes. Some of the text is lost in the delivery too, which makes moments inaudible.
Julia Horan's impressive cast brings together a well assembled company of actors. Cilenti does a great job of building Mortimer as his relationship with Isabella grows. Whilst Emilio Doorgasingh's Pembroke and Henry Pettigrew's Kent (Edward's brother) are the most memorable of the noble peers. Stavros Demetraki and Kwaku Mills are superb as two of Gaveston's allies in Spencer and Baldock.
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| Photo by Helen Murray |
This brooding and brutal play still resonates today with the themes remaining relevant. Marlowe's blood soaked thriller makes for a gripping watch and has you on the edge of your seat as you watch the relationships play out. Much like the rule of Edward II, it's not a perfect production but it's a striking and memorable production.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Edward II plays at the Royal Shakespeare Company until Saturday 5th April 2025. Tickets are available from https://www.rsc.org.uk/
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