Edward II

Although Christopher Marlowe's 1593 stage melodrama about the titular, ill-fated, 14th-century English monarch may not be as well known as Shakespeare's celebrated history plays, Edward II boasts as much intrigue and violence, and still retains the power to shock. Marlowe compresses the events of the king's 20-year reign during which Edward's love for his male favourite Gaveston not only poisoned his relationships with both his queen and nobles but also ultimately led to rebellion. Although Edward brutally suppresses the attempted insurrection, his wife joins with his exiled enemy Mortimer to depose the king, who is murdered in a spectacularly gruesome fashion, after which his son Edward III takes vengeance on Mortimer and restores royal order. A 1969 Edinburgh Festival performance by the Prospect Theatre Company (later filmed for broadcast by the BBC on the stage of an empty London theatre), Edward II stars the young Ian McKellen, who gives a florid—some would say over-the-top—performance in the title role. McKellen is matched in flamboyance by James Laurenson as Gaveston, with Timothy West measured and grave as Mortimer (and special mention should be made of Robert Eddison, truly frightening as the calm, bloodthirsty executioner). Director Toby Robertson rushes some early scenes, but generally controls the camera well, and vividly stages Edward's murder. DVD extras include “The Marlowe Inquest,” an excellent feature-length mock trial debating the cause of Marlowe's death, conducted by three barristers interrogating actors playing 16th-century witnesses. Although the DVD transfer sadly shows the production's age, this is still a solid alternative to Derek Jarman's 1991 modernized travesty. Recommended. (F. Swietek)