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The Troublesome Reign and Lamentable Death of Edward II, King of England, with the Tragical Fall of Proud Mortimer
By Christopher Marlowe
Directed by Sean Graney
Chicago Shakespeare Theatre (Upstairs) on Navy Pier
800 East Grand Ave(312) 595-5600
www.chicagoshakes.com/edward
$20 (Promenade) $42-56 (Gallery)
Wednesdays through Fridays at 8 pm
Saturdays at 3 and 8 pm
Sundays at 3 pm
Running time is 85 minutes with no intermission
Through November 9, 2008
Seeing Marlowe makes one appreciate Shakespeare.
The staging is innovative. The performance is brilliant. The play is terrible: not terrible in the sense of bad – but terrible in the sense of striking terror into the heart. 
With interesting originality, the main floor audience stands and strolls during the entire 85-minute performance while actors weave among them, often tapping individuals lightly on the shoulder, signaling them to move aside. However, it is possible to purchase tickets for the surrounding balcony (one row deep) and look down upon the swirling throng (which is what this reviewer did).
What do you see – from either vantage? Blood! Lots of blood! So much so, in fact, that one cannot help but recall a quote from the player king in Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead:
We're more of the love, blood and rhetoric school. Well, we can do you blood and love without the rhetoric, and we can do you blood and rhetoric without the love, and we can do you all three concurrent or consecutive. But we can't give you love and rhetoric without the blood. Blood is compulsory. They're all blood, you see.
Frankly, I would've preferred more love, even more rhetoric, and far less blood.
On the love side, The Troublesome Reign of Edward II… deals with the King's homosexual passion for a commoner, the Frenchman Gaveston who had been banished from the kingdom. Now, following the death of Edward's father, Gaveston is free to return. When he does, the enraged nobles, angered by the king's sexual obsession and blatant favoritism –soon banish him again. Wars and death ensue and are repeated in reaction to the king's next lover, Spencer.
On the performance side, Jeffrey Carlson and La Shawn Banks give vivid portrayals of the sundered lovers (Edward and Gaveston), Karen Aldridge is outstanding as the dismayed, rejected, outraged Queen Isabella, and Scott Cummins and Chris Sullivan strongly portray the politically ambitious nobles: Mortimer and Lancaster.
On the blood side – not only are there many deaths, but the ways the deaths are handled are enough to turn many a viewer pale. Most of the characters meet their fate in a filthy bathroom, complete with a seat-less toilet. The actual moment of death is concealed by a flimsy drape, quickly removed to reveal ever increasing amounts of blood as the characters are stabbed, shot and/or beheaded. Death – in the guise of a masked, hooded figure complete with ringing bell -- then somberly arrives to lead away each corpse.
Edward, himself, is treated more harshly, with a harrowing center-stage death, slain by three sodomizing, hired assassins wielding their weapons with hideous effect.
Playwright Marlowe died at 29, in a barroom ball. One can only hope that had he lived longer, he might have rewritten this work to tighten plot, add suspense, and build the kind of characters that the audience might morn after death – and he might also have learned from his contemporary, Shakespeare, just how to do all this.
Somewhat Recommended
Reviewed by Beverly Friend, Ph.D
friend@oakton.edu for comments
Date Reviewed: October 7, 2008
Review by Tom Williams
Edward II goes for the blood, guts, sex and power in Graney’s 85 minute spectacle
Sean Graney is the master of the unpredictable productions. At Chicago Shakespeare’s upstairs theatre, Graney uses a semi-promenade style to tell Shakespeare’s rival playwright, Christopher Marlowe’ “The Troublesome Reign and Lamentable Death of Edward II, King of England, with the Tragical Fall of Proud Mortimer.” Above the stage there is seating for the voyeuristic. But the best way to view Graney’s unpredictable drama is to stand face-to-face intermixed with the actors in a promenade setting. I did just that and I’m glad I did because the sheer energy of the production riveted me to the work.
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Marlowe sure isn’t Shakespeare but in Graney’s 85 minute one act, Graney vividly deals with Marlowe’s exploration of political power, love, sex and betrayal. Edward II’s (Jeffrey Carlson) love for a French commoner, Galveston (La Sawn Banks) so engrosses the King that his wife Queen Isabella (the magnificent Karen Aldridge) and the nobleman Mortimer (Scott Cummins) move from loyalty to outright armed rebellion. Edward’s love for Gaveston enrages his nobleman. We see how homophobia threatens to bring down a king. In this wild and bloody production, the pace is fast and the story is unpredictable. Violence ensues, heads roll, as loyalties change as the body count soars. We see the demise of Edward and Mortimer as the dual protagonists vie for political power amidst the carnage.
Graney’s storytelling is crisp, sharp and focused as we can follow the action and motivation easily as we duck the blood. The action is furious, the performances are wonderful—especially from Karen Aldridge as Isabella, La Shawn Banks as Gaveston and Scott Cummins as Mortimer. But the finest work of the night belongs to Jeffrey Carlson as Edward II. He captures the arrogance and whimsy of the smitten English king. Carlson’s emotional depiction of Edward’s demise was chilling. He is a world-class actor at the top of his craft.
Edward II is a refreshingly exhilaration theatrical experience. Please be apart of the promenade so the mayhem will rivet you to the stage. You’ll be overwhelmed.
Highly Recommended
Tom Williams
Tom99@chicagocritic.com for comments
Date Reviewed: October 8, 2008
Jeff Recommended
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