Marlowe's Edward The Second (BBC Radio 3 Drama On 3)

Marvelous! It’s been years since I binged on the complete works of Shakespeare, and I’d forgotten just how wonderful renaissance theater could be. Christopher Marlow was, of course, one of Shakespeare’s rivals, and a worthy one at that. Edward II is just as good as Shakespeare’s finer histories, and......more

I wish I could love Edward II. Not only is its treatment of passionate male friendship unique in Renaissance English Drama, but its plotting is exemplary, its rhetoric disciplined, its imagery restrained, and—perhaps its greatest achievement—it expertly summons a coherent historical vision, calling......more

This is not so much a review of Edward II as jotting down a few shafts of memory before they completely dissipate. In November 1969, I went to see a performance of Edward II at the "Leeds Grand", a very old, ornate theatre dating from 1878. I was interested in the playwright Christopher Marlowe, as I......more

This is a marvellous play; it is clearly an equal to any of Shakespeare’s histories. It’s such a shame Marlowe had his life cut short; he could have been a real rival to Shakespeare if he wrote more. He’s only got a few plays compared to Shakespeare’s forty or so. He just didn’t write enough before......more

Marlowe’s verse is not as nimble as Shakespeare’s, nor as overwhelmingly brilliant. But it has undeniable power, an irresistible forward momentum, and moments of astonishing depth and beauty. In my view, Edward II is the equal of all but Shakespeare’s very greatest histories. Marlowe's characters ar......more