Sheffield Telegraph
March 16, 2001
By Ian Soutar

It seems no way to reward Joseph Fiennes for his willingness to venture North and fulfil his ambition of playing Edward II by putting him so thoroughly through the mill at the Crucible Theatre.

The dreaded hot poker is the least of the physical ordeals for the actor (the long-awaited denouement is effectively delivered with mercifully swiftness). Before that he endures an alarmingly long dunking in water and then is dumped downstage in tattered clothing to endure torture by dripping water from above.

He will surely think the treatment worth the price of participating in a wonderful production by Michael Grandage which makes sense of a difficult play.

Edward, famously pilloried for a love affair with a man, is not a Shakespearean tragic hero whose fatal flaws unfold before us. The play opens when he assumes the throne, but his relationship with Piers Gavestkon is already on the go.

At first it is hard to feel much sympathy or empathy for Edward. Orgies with boys in gold cavorting around the throne and provocative snogging are surely bound to upset the old guard.

Marlowe's text suggests that the opposition to Gaveston is not simple homophobia, and that they despise him because he is "hardly a gentleman by birth," though the class distinction is not easy to discern here.

The power of drama comes in the second half where the cruel dispatch of Gaveston (James D'Arcy) does not make things any easier for Edward. It is clear from the way they turn on on the successor in the King's affections, Spencer (surely with scant time to clock Ben Porter's Old Compton Street bleached haircut and pouting smile), that whatever the King does he can never win.

It thus becomes a matter of power not sexual politics. At the same time the potent mix of sexual desire and power is now demonstrated by the hitherto wronged Queen Isabella (Jo McInnes), who takes up with ambitious hothead Mortimer the Younger.

The mood of frivolity evaporates and the tone darkens, pointed up by the eerie lighting design by Tim Mitchell. The overall design by Christopher Oram, incidentally, once again plays a significant but not intrusive role from its simple flagstoned set to the smoke machine battle.

The early insouciance of Fiennes begins to fade. The scene where he finally relinquishes the crown is spell-binding in its anguish, and yet also includes some great moments of comic timing.

Even with his initial swagger, the Edward of Joseph Fiennes is never an imposing figure up against his more burly opponents, especially the towering Mortimer (an impressive Lloyd Owen).

Thus the production is by no means overwhelmed by star presence, and the joy of yet another Michael Grandage production is in its collective achievement.