Char Li Chung has made a fat, catchy comedy of Edward II ★★★☆☆

The performance begins with beautiful music: Song for Athena by British composer John Taverner. Choral singing that was also heard at Princess Diana’s funeral, in 1997. Also Edward II, the new performance by Char Li Chung at Toneelgroep Oostpool, is a royal drama with a fatal outcome. Only Chung has made a great comedy out of it. Too fat, eventually.

Edward II – the Gay King, that is how the title goes, and for this purpose the original piece by Christopher Marlowe from 1592 has been thoroughly edited by Jibbe Willems. Edward is now quite a bit more ‘gay’ than ‘king’. This becomes immediately clear when Fyodor Jozefzoon, like Edward, is gleefully gloating about ascending the throne, just after his father has hurled all kinds of curses at him on his deathbed. The new king wants peace, not war, the new king wants his friend, not a queen by his side. Edward II is gay and his lover Gaveston is immediately brought into the palace prominently.

From that point of departure, the performance initially becomes an infectious comedy in which the original, sombre content completely fades into the background. That is a brave choice by director Chung, who recently said in an interview that he sees it as his task ‘to make theater less heteronormative’. So when Edward throws a party, we hear him sing frantically along to Lady Gaga’s Born this Way, including a fine choreography by the counselors around him. The king and his friend are constantly fiddling with each other and giving modest kisses.

Until repression strikes, the court, led by the scheming Mortimer, turns against him and Gaveston is banished. Then the true kingly drama unfolds and Chung is less aware of that – he just can’t keep up with the seriousness of the story.

The scene is glamorous, in a deliberately shabby way. Worn suits, faded white show curtains, tulle that has had its day. The acting is of a varying level: Sigrid ten Napel, as the provoked queen, knows very well how to handle her strongly focused playing style, Tobias Kersloot as lover Gaveston is too concerned with whether his hair is right and too little with passionate acting, and Fjodor Jozefzoon is like Edward is pretty frivolous in the first part of the performance, but is unable to convert his failure into credible drama afterwards. His lengthy monologues from the dungeons of his palace are too flat to really captivate. Actually, Abe Dijkman and Matthijs IJgosse are the nicest as the two counselors. Especially IJgosse as the cunning, brutal Mortimer steals the show: the way in which he throws twenty insults for gay doggedly into the room (‘Shit licker, cock sucker, anus maggot, rim knight, hemorrhoid hoe’) is a highlight.

In the final scene, Edward and Gaveston meet in death, with, yes, a kiss. A very solid one this time, with all the trimmings. Finally free.