Reviews of Edward II at the RSC starring Daniel Evans & Eloka Ivo

"Atrocity makes a mockery of civility in the RSC’s seething Edward II"

"Queer love and vicious homophobia are at the heart of Marlowe’s tragedy at the Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon"

"Trimmed down to 100 minutes, Daniel Raggett’s rare revival of Marlowe’s classic (the first at the RSC for 35 years) has the slick velocity of a contemporary thriller, putting the play’s queer love and vicious homophobia squarely centre stage."

"It’s chilling: a stark account of surging prejudice and naked self-interest and of the speed with which brutality can take hold. It’s also sobering: a 16th-century tragedy about a 14th-century king that asks uncomfortable questions about prejudice in today’s world. At its centre is a riveting performance from Daniel Evans, the RSC’s joint artistic director."

"There’s a cost to the cuts: some gear-changes feel very abrupt and there is little sense of a wider society or the impact of the chaos at court. But this stark staging, powerfully sculpted by Tim Lutkin’s dramatic lighting, offers an unflinching account of prejudice and its proximity to the surface."

"Daniel Evans leads a brooding, brutal and brilliant night at the RSC"

"The new joint boss of the Royal Shakespeare Company makes an impetuous king in Daniel Raggett’s production of Marlowe’s history play"

"The temptation is to see Christopher Marlowe’s brutal history play as a commentary on homophobia. After all, it is about a king who loses his throne thanks to loving a male courtier... But it is more complicated than that. Daniel Raggett’s urgent, brooding production highlights the dilemma from the start."

"Played by Eloka Ivo, he symbolises freedom, disruption and disorder. He is the dangerous opposite of courtly formality. It is this, rather than his sexuality in itself, that provokes consternation. As far as the nobles are concerned, the king can snog whom he likes."

"Leading from the front, the RSC’s co-artistic director, Daniel Evans, plays the king with impetuousness, a sore loser irritated not to get his own way but lacking the wit to do much about it."

"What hits home most forcefully in Raggett’s production, performed without interval for added intensity, is a clash of values, the orthodox reacting against the untamed, the forces of order punishing the violators."

"Marlowe’s gruesome play is daringly reborn"

"Daniel Raggett’s darkly atmospheric, modern-dress staging hinges on a performance of real bravery from RSC co artistic director Daniel Evans"

"We see the incarcerated Edward, stripped naked and held down in a water-filled muddy pit, legs splayed and writhing as that poker moment is simulated, the light a hellish red; tough viewing indeed. It’s a brave, exposing scene for any actor to undertake; even more so when that actor is Daniel Evans, the RSC’s co artistic director, leading from the front in the most full-on way. Some might carp that it’s an inside-job casting-wise, but he earns his place in the spotlight to the hilt."

"This version – running fast, as if for dear life, with no interval – isn’t coy about Edward’s physical desire and emotional dependency. There’s much unrestrained kissing when Eloka Ivo’s tall, self-assured (not stereotypically fey) Gaveston"

"... Raggett emphasises the centrality (and modernity) of the king’s sexuality – and thereby enforces the political resonance. “What would happen if it had been Colin, not Camilla?”, he jested in a pre-show Q&A a propos Charles’s ascension; but what’s actually permissible, at the highest levels, even in our now tolerant times, is a moot, serious point."

"Intense, taut thriller"

"Daniel Evans stars in Marlowe’s pacy tale of palace intrigue, which balances visual style and visceral substance"

"With its frank discussion of homosexual love, regicide and rebellion, Christopher Marlowe’s cruel, compelling historical drama has always been radical. Opening at a time when regressive politics and manufactured moral panic around non-traditional identities is on the rise, this bold, stylish production from director Daniel Raggett feels especially pointed."

"Heading an uneven cast as the ill-fated Edward, Daniel Evans cuts straight to the conflict at the drama’s heart: for all his optimism and devotion to his lover, Edward is a terrible leader – selfish, distracted, indecisive. Evans catches all of Edward’s vacillation and naivety, and finds moments of fury when facing his enemies. He shares a heated chemistry with Eloka Ivo’s Gaveston, their very public displays of affection full of passion."

"Marlowe’s gay king exposed by today’s paparazzi"

"The RSC’s co-artistic director Daniel Evans returns to acting after 14 years and is full of dignity as Marlowe’s tragic king, but the show lacks heft"

"Daniel Evans, the RSC’s co-artistic director, is making his first stage appearance as boss and indeed returning to acting after 14 years. He is supremely unrusty, vocally honeyed and physically poised as the man whose attempts to come into his homosexual identity fully now that he is king are thwarted both by the homophobia of others and by his poor political sense. And, yes, while this was written in the 1590s and set in the early 1300s, its issues would still grab the nation now. "

"Marlowe is neither the great poet that Shakespeare was nor uses subplots to add resonance. It’s a joy to have Evans back on stage, who takes on an affecting vulnerability once Edward is dispatched to his boggy basement dungeon. No other character sprouts a third dimension, though."

"... the RSC are making a point, too – about horrific homophobia down the ages. But Marlowe’s play isn’t about tolerance. He crunches a complex, violent, 20-year reign into a salacious melodrama of power and cruelty. Edward’s sexuality is just a pretext. None of that makes you warm to his characters and, running at just 100 minutes, it’s a good hour shorter than his contemporary, Shakespeare, would have had it."

"Daniel Raggett’s murky, pacy, noirish production with a rock music score is at its strongest when at its most cynical."

"Edward keeps a hedonistic clique of gay sycophants, led by Eloka Ivo’s provocative Gaveston. But Marlowe’s dramatic appetite was for the play’s uncompromisingly misanthropic machinations. Those make this work impressively ugly, but equally hard to enjoy."