Writer: Christopher Marlowe
Director: Alex Pearson
Derek Jarman’s film adaptation of Christopher Marlowe’s daring play was sexy and political, clearly locating some of the action in the Britain of the 1990s, when Thatcher’s homophobic Clause 28 was the catalyst for queer activism. Alex Pearson’s production, playing at the Jack Studio Theatre, is not so sexy and not so political. Set in a timeless England, the all-female cast delivers Marlowe’s lines with aplomb, but this Edward II lacks fire and drive.
With only six actors and a running time of 95 minutes, of course, some lines have been cut, and some characters omitted, with the uncle and nephew Mortimers condensed into one. So keen to show the machinations of the court, determined to oust Gaveston, the relationship between the king and his “minion” is underexplored, with some of the homoerotic dialogue between them edited down into a few lines. This means, despite Elinor Machen-Fortune’s spirited performance as Gaveston, that we wonder why the nobility is so threatened by his presence at the king’s side.
Of course, Mortimer & Co are also angry that a commoner has inveigled himself into the king’s inner circle. Marlowe’s play is concerned with social mobility just as much as it is with homophobia, and Machen-Fortune’s Gaveston is a dandified upstart, when he could be coarser. Written in 1592, Edward II is strangely prophetic as well as historical. After James VI of Scotland became King of England in 1603, his reign was peppered with controversies about his minions, especially George Villiers, also of lowly stock like Gaveston. James bestowed upon Villiers a wealth of titles, very much the way Marlowe’s Edward makes Gaveston Lord Chamberlain, Earl of Cornwall, and the Lord of the Isle of Man in the play’s opening.
Natalie Harper’s Edward is regal and desperate and cuts a tragic figure when imprisoned at the end, waiting for execution rather than reprieve. In a chilling touch, Lightborne is also played by Machen-Fortune, a doubling underlined by the walking stick that both Gaveston and Lightborne swirl alongside them. The stick easily symbolises the red-hot poker that so famously ends Edward’s life.
As the conniving and jealous Mortimer, Srabani Sen, in a black suit, is convincing, while Victoria Howell provides some excellent accents in her many roles, such as Spencer and Lancaster. Bringing some much-needed humour to her roles in what could be a dour production is Emma Louise-Price, and her slightly camp Edmund, The Earl of Kent, is her best creation. Alison Young is a rather passive Queen Isabella, never really displaying any unrequited love for her husband at the start, but clearly showing the fear she has for Mortimer as he begins to seek control.
Much of this production is played under the same lights, and so it’s heartening to see a change towards the end of the show, but Steve Lowe’s lighting design could be more varied earlier on, giving a better sense of time and location. Without some differences in sound and light, this Edward does drag on a little. Pearson’s cast works tirelessly, but in trying to pack so much of Marlowe’s story into the play, the result lacks a purpose other than to stage it.
Runs until 18 April 2026
