Edward II

RSC Stratford upon Avon until 5th April

**** “Deep, dark and daring.”

Daniel Evans creates a troubled, insecure, and doomed new royal. The joint artistic director of the RSC is leading from the front by finding the time to play the titular role in Christopher Marlowe’s treatment of an ancient royal family.

First penned way back in the late 1500’s it has now as it did then the power to send a few ripples of shock around the auditorium. There is a heady mixture of forbidden love, homophobia and some good old power struggles going on. With a couple of brutal, dark, and daring scenes thrown in for good measure.

Edward the new King, is infatuated by the young Gaveston played with a likable ease by Eloka Ivo. It is a relationship that is served up to doom and the King’s court as well as his wife cannot stomach the relationship. The plans to disrupt and ultimately end the affair are set in motion, which results in a bloody and shocking conclusion.

Daniel Raggett makes an impressive RSC directorial debut, with some clever choices and pushes the action through the one hour forty with admirable pace. The brooding set from Leslie Travers is fitting and functional with a wonderfully revealing moment when an uninviting muddy pit is revealed. It is a dark affair both in setting and story, with some of the upstage action having more than a sense of film noir about it.

The story never quite grabs attention as much as it probably should, but nonetheless it is sharp, and dark in equal measure. And Daniel Evans is hugely watchable and convincing as Edward. Royal revelations a plenty until early April

David Robinson