Edward 11 by Christopher Marlowe, The Brockley Jack Studio Theatre, 410 Brockley Road, London SE4 | until 18 April 2026 ⭐⭐⭐ Review by William Russell

Photo credit: Alex Pearson Productions

Edward 11

by Christopher Marlowe

The Brockley Jack Studio Theatre, 410 Brockley Road, London SE4 | until 18 April 2026

⭐⭐⭐ Review by William Russell

“Murder most foul.”

The chance to see a play by Christopher Marlowe being performed is not one to let slip and the stars are for the risk taken by this all female cast in tackling it, although since it is only six strong this does require a lot of doubling which creates some considerable confusion in following the plot. The story line is straightforward enough. Edward 11 is no warrior king like his father and is obsessed with a young commoner, Piers Gaveston which sets him at odds with his nobles not to mention his wife Queen Isabella and the young man, who is enjoying his elevated status as the royal lover, is murdered by the baron in a famously horrible fashion. Quite why director Alex Pearson opted for an all-female cast is one of those things – women have played Shakespearian men before, notably Glenda Jackson as Lear. But when the entire cast are women – especially in a play where the sex of the principal character, Edward, and his lover are at the heart of the matter it all gets rather odd. However Natalie Harper, who is not required to play anyone else, creates a substantial Edward struggling to hold the throne when all around are busily trying to take it away. Elinor Machen-Fortune is an impetuous Gaveston, but when she turns up as Lightborne, his murderer, not to mention Edward's son and successor as well as the Archbishop of Canterbury one gets a mite perplexed and Srabani Sen is a suitably devious and dangerous Mortimer. The play, written in 1593 and shortly afterwards Marlowe was murdered in a tavern brawl, was last done by the Royal Shakespeare company in 2025 to considerable acclaim but there men were men and women women with Daniel Evans playing the hapless Edward. Take the risk, however, and go. The cast go at it with a will and do not shirk the challenges they face.

Cast

Natalie Harper – Edward 11

Victoria Howell – Lancaster, Spencer, Gourney, Soldier

Elinor Machen-Fortune – Gaveston, Prine Edward, Archbishop of Canterbury, Lightborne

Emma Louise-Price – Warwick, Kent, Baldock, Maltravers

Srabani Sen – Mortimer and Leicester

Alison Young – Queen Isabella, Bishop of Coventry, Messenger, Mower

Creatives

Director – Alex Pearson

Set & Costume Design – Eve Oakley

Lighting Design – Steve Lowe

Sound Designer – Hannah Clancy

Fight Director – Scot Howland