David R Gammons

Show poster for Edward II

Nominated for SIX Independent Reviewers of New England (IRNE) Awards:
Best Production
Best Director
Best Actor: Maurice Emmanuel Parent
Best Supporting Actor: Eddie Shields
Best Set Design: Sara Brown
Best Sound Design: David Wilson

Nominated for FOUR 2017 Elliot Norton Awards:
Outstanding Production
Outstanding Actor: Maurice Emmanuel Parent
Outstanding Design
Outstanding Director

WINNER of THREE 2017 Elliot Norton Awards:
Outstanding Actor: Maurice Emmanuel Parent
Outstanding Design
Outstanding Director

“My father is deceased; come, Gaveston, and share the kingdom with thy dearest friend.” The great-grandfather of Richard II, Edward II showered favor on his treasured male lover, Gaveston, leading to bitter resentment from the nobles with fatal consequences. Marlowe uses the tumultuous history of 14th century England to share one man’s struggle between self-identity and the demands of his court and kingdom, presented in a taut new version that pares the work to eight characters to suit the intimate performance space and the intensity of his script. In the wake of Edward I’s death, his son Edward has taken the throne as Edward II. His radical ideas around affairs of state, lack of military acumen, and loyalty to his ambitious lover Piers Gaveston pit him against powerful nobles and his calculating queen. These conflicts lead to Gaveston’s exile and murder, new and shifting romantic loyalties on all sides, and revenge and retribution that ultimately seal Edward’s fate. Edward II was kept off the stage for more than 300 years, in large part because of the cultural ambivalence of its social matter and the spectre of male sexuality as a threat to the civilized order of society and power. It depicts a gay relationship in the 14th century, written in the 16th century, in a way that most stories and lives were not openly portrayed until the late 20th century.

Featuring

KING EDWARD II Maurice Emmanuel Parent
QUEEN ISABELLA Jennie Israel
PIERCE DE GAVESTON Eddie Shields
LORD MORTIMER Alex Pollock
EARL OF LANCASTER Nigel Gore
EDMUND, EARL OF KENT Nile Hawver
SPENCER Stewart Evan Smith
PRINCE EDWARD, later EDWARD III David J. Castillo

Press

Edward II

By Christopher Marlowe

February 22 - March 19, 2017
Charlestown Working Theatre, Boston

Photos: David R. Gammons