EDWARD II
BY CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE
"Why would you love him who the world hates so?"
On ascension to the English throne, Edward II calls back his beloved ally Piers Gaveston. But
when their close relationship throws the court and Edward's marriage into disarray, it threatens
to destabilise an entire country.
The inventive creative team behind last year's unmissable production of DOCTOR FAUSTUS, led
by director Toby Frow, reunite for this fast-paced thriller which will have your allegiances shifting
in a night of gripping theatre.
RESOURCE EXTRA
A society on the cusp of change
The historic King Edward II reigned from 13071327. He was a King with no real interest in
government or war, instead preferring to spend
his time with favourite Knight, Piers Gaveston.
Edward’s neglect of his kingly duties enraged the
English Barons and humiliated his Queen,
Isabella of France. Edward ended his reign a
prisoner in Berkeley Castle, where he was
brutally murdered.
more of the population. Massive religious
changes unsettled the country and permanent
systems began to change. Overseas explorations
led to the discovery of ‘the New World’. Trade
Marlowe has taken the 23 years of King Edward
II’s reign and condensed them into two hours of
drama. The play uses Edward’s story to explore
themes of duty versus desire. Marlowe’s Edward
is a King who struggles to live up to the
responsibilities expected of him. Through
Edward’s struggle, the play explores a world
which is caught between an old order of
hierarchy and structure, and a new world of
liberalism, self-expression and individual
freedoms.
The Elizabethan society in which Marlowe lived
and wrote was a society in transition. Under
Elizabeth, society was shifting from a feudal
system with rigid social divisions towards a more
egalitarian system with a rapidly growing middle
class of merchants and professionals. The
growth of the middle classes increased demand
for education – basic literacy improved and the
development of printing processes led to books
and cheap pamphlets becoming available to
Chris New as King Edward II (top) and Samuel Collings as Piers Gaveston
(Photo - Jonathan Keenan)
increased and exotic new foods – like turkey,
tomatoes and spices – were introduced to the
nation. All of these changes expanded the
artistic and cultural worlds of the Nation and led
to an increasing emphasis on individuality.
Director Toby Frow has chosen to set the action
of the Royal Exchange production of EDWARD II
in another period of transition in English society:
the 1950s. This was a time when the British
Empire was dissolving – there was a sense of old
systems crumbling, as new freedoms and
possibilities emerged: rationing ended, foods
which hadn’t been seen for years reappeared
and the population were introduced to new
foods. The television film TOAST tells the story
of chef Nigel Slater’s coming of age, and
captures the sense of excitement and pleasure
which came with rich, indulgent new foods. The
creative team behind EDWARD II have used this
film as a reference to inspire some of their ideas.
The 1950s was also the decade in which
television first hit British homes, allowing people
to glimpse other worlds for the first time, and
the world opened up physically as well –
opportunities to travel and to discover Europe
increased. The recent film AN EDUCATION
explores this, and the Creative Team have used
the film as a reference, helping them to capture
the sense of having your eyes opened to what
the world has to offer.
In the Royal Exchange production, the action
begins before the audience have entered the
Theatre. When the audience arrive, they should
feel like they’re at a live jazz gig. The Hall will be
transformed into a 1952 Paris jazz club – a
smoky, seedy place, inspired by the Mars Club, a
famous club where the jazz greats of the time
played. This is the world of Gaveston in exile: a
world where anything goes. Gaveston represents
personal freedom and self-expression. He is
frivolous and pleasure-seeking and he appeals to
these qualities in the King: “I must have wanton
poets, pleasant wits/ Musicians, that with
touching of a string/ May draw the pliant King
which way I please.” At the opening of the play
when he returns from exile, Gaveston brings
beatnik poets and musicians from Paris with
him. Gaveston proves that you don’t need to
cling to the old world anymore – the King loves
him and so he is given titles and status beyond
the other nobles. They bitterly resent this,
describing Gaveston as a ‘peasant’: “swoll’n with
venom of ambitious pride”. The nobles represent
the old order: theirs is the world of Dennis
Potter’s LIPSTICK ON YOUR COLLAR – a world
Pre-show cafe for EDWARD II (Photo - Jonathan Keenan)
of smoke filled rooms and powerful men in dark
suits.
Despite the new freedoms of the 1950s, many
people still held fixed beliefs. With the
coronation of Queen Elizabeth, there was a
strong sense of loyalty to the Royals and
despite – or because – of huge immigration,
there was a strong attitude of nationalism. This
was also an era where many still held rigid
attitudes, including towards sex. Contraception
was not yet freely available and there was a
belief that homosexuals could be ‘fixed’ through
methods such as aversion therapy. We get a
sense of this side of the 1950s as the play
‘proper’ begins. The audience move from the
Hall into the Theatre. On entering the Theatre,
there should be a sense that the fun is over. We
see how different England is to the Paris of
Gaveston’s exile. The nobles still rule this
world – although they sense their authority is in
danger. They demand structure and hierarchy
and they have high expectations of their King.
Edward is caught between his sense of duty and
obligation to the old order, and his desire for
Gaveston and the world he represents. Through
Edward’s struggle, the play explores ideas of
tolerance and liberalism and tests whether or
not a society can change. In Director Toby
Frow’s words, Edward is “a martyr for tolerance,
self-expression and liberal thought who dies
without ever knowing he’s been fighting for a
cause.”
WHY NOT? Create a mood-board capturing
the atmosphere of 1950s England. Look
through magazines to find images which
represent the period, and search for colours
and textures which evoke the time. Is it
possible to capture the sense of contrasts and
conflicts in your mood-board?
WHY NOT? Consider how an ordinary citizen
might feel about Edward II. Write or
improvise a conversation between two
ordinary people discussing their King. Do they
express sympathy or anger towards him? Do
they both feel the same or do they hold
differing beliefs about the duties of a King?
WHY NOT? Create your own sound-track for
the play. The Royal Exchange production uses
a mixture of original music and jazz classics to
explore ideas of self-expression. What music
or songs would you use to underscore key
moments or create an atmosphere and why?
Samuel Collings (left) as Piers Gaveston and Chris New as King Edward II (Photo - Jonathan Keenan)
Christopher Marlowe
Marlowe was not born to the wealthy, educated
classes. He was instead one of the rapidly
growing middle class of the Elizabethan age. He
was the son of a Canterbury shoe-maker, John
Marlowe, and was one of nine children, only six
of whom survived into adulthood.
Marlowe was the only one of his siblings to
receive a prestigious education, winning a
scholarship to the King’s School at the age of
fourteen. After King’s, Marlowe won another
scholarship, this time to Corpus College,
Cambridge. Whilst at Cambridge, Marlowe is
believed to have been recruited by Walsingham,
the Queen’s Secretary of State, and employed as
a spy infiltrating Catholic circles to uncover plots
against the Government. It is rumoured that
Marlowe remained in the pay of Walsingham
throughout his lifetime and that that was how he
funded his extravagant lifestyle in London
following his degree.
led a colourful life. He had repeated brushes
with the law, was bound over to keep the peace
and arrested for brawling. Less than two weeks
before his death, Marlowe was summoned to the
Privy Council to answer allegations that he was
guilty of circulating subversive and heretical
materials. One of the allegations made against
Marlowe was that he had asserted that Jesus
and St John were lovers. This idea would have
been abhorrent to the Elizabethans, who were
extremely prejudiced against homosexuality –
influenced by the bible and the law (Henry VIII
made homosexuality a criminal offence,
punishable by death). It has been suggested
that Marlowe himself was gay.
On 30 May 1593, at the age of 29, Christopher
Marlowe was killed in a knife fight in a Deptford
Public House. Although this was reputed to have
been a pub brawl, there are many theories and
questions surrounding his death, which many
suspect had a political motive.
Marlowe settled in London in 1587. There, he
A History of Power Dressing
A King has died, a new King is crowned. That is
how Christopher Marlowe's play begins. We are
so used to seeing the pageantry and ceremony
that accompanies such occasions – millions of
people all around the world tuned in to see
Prince William marry Katherine Middleton earlier
this year, and even though the crowd were
treated to a rather modern affair, the traditions
are what continue to appeal to the majority of
on-lookers. We want to see the golden, horse
drawn carriage carrying the Queen, we love to
see the ceremonial guards in their livery, and
the kiss on the balcony has become something
of a 'must'.
The design for the Royal Exchange production of
EDWARD II contains some of these historical
and ceremonial indicators. For the five weeks
leading up to opening of the play, the Production
Wardrobe Department have been measuring,
marking, cutting, sewing and stitching the
ceremonial robes for the Kings, Dukes, Lords
and other members of the high court of King
Edward. If you had visited our Wardrobe team
recently you would have been greeted with the
sight of rich red velvets and bright white fur-
lined trim. It is a colour scheme and combination
with which I'm sure you'd be familiar. Think back
to grainy film footage of the Queen's coronation
or the TV coverage that we see every year at
the state opening of Parliament and what do you
see? Rows and rows of Lords and Ladies, Dukes,
Earls and Barons dressed in Red robes with the
distinctive white trim. But why? It is an age old
tradition, and not a happy one if you happen to
be a little stoat-like creature often known as the
Ermine.
From as early as the 1400s this little white
creature, part of the weasel family, was
considered a symbol of purity. It was depicted in
portraits of important people and included in
coats of arms. It seems like an unlikely fate for
an animal no longer than 10 inches from head to
tail.
Although it was the tail with it's small black tip
that was highly prized to hunters and traders,
the secret was in the legend of it's coat. The
legend states that Ermine would rather die than
spoil or soil it's pure white fur. There is, of
course, no evidence for this but very quickly
artists and writers began using the ermine to
represent purity and chastity. The renaissance
writer Henry Peacham famously depicted a
hunter chasing the ermine on horse back with a
pack of dogs in pursuit. It may seem an
extravagant way to catch such a small creature
but the continued legend stated that the hunters
would surround the little weasel with a ring of
mud. Realising there was no way out, the
ermine would give it's life up to the dogs and
spears rather than dirty it's coat.
So, this small stoat with it's legendary bravery,
purity and honour came to represent all that is
good in the highest society, and unfortunately
this meant the poor animal's white winter coat,
or ermine, was much prized too. Throughout the
1500s and 1600s, Kings and Queens were
expected to live up to this purity of character.
Lords and Ladies were advised to keep their
minds as pure as the Ermine coat. Defilement at
no cost!
Deputy Head of the Production Wardrobe
Department, Tracey Dunk says "It's something
that we've tried very hard to recreate for this
production. I had to do a lot of research about
the weasel pelts (skins) and how they were
treated and assembled to make the decorative
trim that we all know." If you close your eyes
and picture the ermine trimmed robes, you may
remember that they are not pure white, but
instead have small black dots throughout.
Tracey says "The weasel has a pure white coat
in Winter except for a small black tip at the end
of its tail. The robe trim was made entirely of
the tails so the black flecks remained. You can
imagine how many tails it takes to make one
robe!"
As part of Tracey's research she found out that
one ermine pelt costs £140 and that one
complete ceremonial robe would cost
somewhere around £25,000. As you can
imagine, the Royal Exchange wouldn't want to
use real animal fur as part of its design (and
neither could the theatre justify the cost). So,
appropriately the costumes for this production
are made from fake fur or fun fur as it's
sometimes known. "The painstaking part" says
Tracey "was picking and arranging the small
thumbnail size pieces of black fun fur to look like
the ermine tails".
Interestingly, the black spots from the fur
were arranged in rows to depict the rank of
the wearer. WHY NOT? Do your own bit of
research and find out how the ranking was
denoted? Tracey consulted the experts at Ede
and Ravenscroft. Why not check out their
website to learn more?
In modern ceremonial robe creation, rabbit
skins are often used, but ermine is still
included in the very finest. WHY NOT? Can
you think of ways that we demonstrate our
'power' and status through our dress in
today's society? Dress, style and colours are
very sophisticated in a lot of gang culture, but
what does your dress say about you?