Radio 3's season of the complete plays of Christopher Marlowe, in honour of his quatercentenary, continues with his political thriller about the king who put his heart before his kingdom. Edward II is about love and kingship, the burden of responsibility and the use and abuse of power.
Despite God's appointment of this mercurial king, the barons are spitefully aware of their own strength and determined to ensure that Edward fulfils their own power fantasies. Nothing annoys them more than Edward's uncertainty about what should take precedence - his own deep bond to his favourite Piers Gaveston or his duty to God and his country.
The director of this production, Clive Brill, says: "We've used a string quartet to drive the story forward, to underline the inner wranglings of the mind versus the need for political expedience, and to complement the tangled ambitions and complex emotions."
To complement this production, Radio 4 presents a new play by Colin Haydn Evans,
Gaveston, tomorrow at 7.45pm.
Lady Margaret .FEDERAY HOLMES Music by Dominique Legendre played by the Ad Hoc String Quartet and Maclek Hrybowicz (percussion) Director Clive Brill