Theatre review: Edward II

After half the RSC Artistic Director made her debut in the role last summer, the other half also opts to do so in the Swan - although after mostly directing for the last couple of decades, Daniel Evans returns to acting in the company where he first launched his career. Christopher Marlowe's Edward II begins with the funeral of Edward I, and Daniel Raggett's production has the Stalls audience file respectfully past the old king's coffin lying in state before the new King Edward II (Evans) is crowned. But even before the funeral is over Edward is busy reversing one of his father's decrees: The banishment of Gaveston (Eloka Ivo,) his closest friend and lover. Not only does he immediately bring Gaveston back, he showers him with honours and positions of power (to such a ridiculous extent there's even a Mitchell & Webb sketch making fun of it,) and the assembled barons aren't happy about it.

They proceed to frantically change their minds back and forth about what to do with the interloper, as when he's in England the King's distracted by him, and when he's banished he's distracted by pining for him; eventually they decide he has to be unambiguously got rid of once and for all.

Marlowe actually gives us a few possible motivations for the barons' treason: As well as straightforward thirst for power, particularly from Mortimer (Enzo Cilenti,) who sets his sights not only on the queen (Ruta Gedmintas) but also on being the real power behind the throne, there's also a snobbery about who Edward's favourites are - never mind being gay, they're not even noble-born. There's also a more genuinely valid concern that too much power is being given to a handful of flatterers.

Most modern productions are of course able to be less ambiguous about the other option, that the lords essentially only care because the King's relationship is with another man. That's also where Raggett focuses this version as well - we open with Gaveston and other followers discussing politics in a sauna, and when Gaveston is killed Edward stands his ground to put Spencer (Stavros Demetraki) and Baldock (Kwaku Mills,) very visibly a couple, front and centre in his place. That's what's seen as an insult too far, leading Mortimer and his acolytes to depose the King himself.

Evans' casting does also affect the way we view him: A few years older than the historical Edward when he died, at 51 he's significantly older than most of the actors in their 20s and 30s I've seen play the part before. It makes it a lot harder to forgive the petulant, pouting way he defies his Lords in order to give Gaveston powers he's unlikely to ever actually use, if the king really is old enough to know better.

But what most dominates the production, to the point of muddying what it's trying to put across, is its pace. Marched insistently on by composer Tommy Reilly and sound designer Tingying Dong's rock soundtrack, the effect is of events spinning relentlessly out of control - as soon as Edward is in power, the barons feel compelled to interfere in one way after another, while Edward himself gets caught up in their manipulation. Nobody gets a chance to breathe between plots and counter-plots.

It leaves little room for subtlety though, so while it's clear the production wants to steer us towards homophobia as the root cause of all the tragedy, every other motivation the play gives us is also jostling for attention. It also means there's little time to develop characters, with Gedmintas not getting much of a chance to make Queen Isabella more than the harsh, jealous villain Marlowe paints her as.

Henry Pettigrew fares better as Edward's sympathetic brother Kent, loyal to the King and the original straight ally until his concerns for how the kingdom's being managed make him reluctantly back Mortimer. And in a small but crucial role, Edward's murderer Lightborn has been previously planted in the gay sauna scene: Making the grisly finale even more of a grotesque mockery of gay sex than it already is, Jacob James Beswick's heavily tattooed Lightborn is rough trade who partly strips off to comfort the King before the end.

In a nice final touch, once Edward III (Freddie Beck, Joel Tennant or Zak Walker) has been installed on the throne, there's a real sense of the child King's strength of character: His father could be pushed around, and Mortimer conspired to get someone he thought he could manipulate even more directly to replace him, only to find it backfiring spectacularly. For his personal introduction as one of the Artistic Directors, Evans has chosen a part that sees him return to the stage with fireworks - ultimately sympathetic but not before we've seen the overgrown child who almost wilfully telegraphs his unsuitability for power. But the production as a whole is in such a rush to create pace it trips over itself.

Edward II by Christopher Marlowe is booking until the 5th of April at the Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon.

Running time: 1 hour 40 minutes straight through.

Photo credit: Helen Murray.