‘Edward II’ reviews more BRB reviews

Thursday's opening night performance revealed BRB's strength as a unique dramatic ensemble of excellent dance actors and actresses. The story, based on Christopher Marlowe's play in the 16th century, is about the homosexual king Edward II whose affection for his young lover Piers Gaveston arouses the jealousy of his wife Isabella, and the resentment of the barons whose leader Mortimer finally overthrows the King. Bintley's choreographic craft was assured, and his instinctive sense of theatre made the stage action gripping throughout its two-hour duration. Scenes followed each other seamlessly, as in a movie. And in fact I found Bintley's production on this first viewing more powerful in impact than Derek Jarman's movie "Edward II" in the early 1990s.

In Act 1, the curtain first rose to show a sombre funeral procession for the late King Edward I, followed by Gaveston's return from exile to the new king Edward II's palace. All the dances had a dramatic logic. In Queen Isabella's bedroom scene, one first saw Isabella lamenting to her maid Edward's infatuation with Gaveston. Then the pas de deux that she danced with Edward perfectly captured her futile attempts to win back her husband's love. At one point when Edward deliberately tried to frighten Isabella, it reminded me of the pas de deux in MacMillan's "Mayerling" when Rudolf tried to scare off his wife Stephanie. The dance then developed into a trio when Gaveston intruded into the action. And the scene ended aptly with an expressive male pas de deux for the two protagonists depicting Edward's obsessive passion.

This first act had a surging momentum, from the black-leather-clad barons plotting their revolution around a dinner table, contrasted then by a rustic scene complete with a lewd clowns' divertissement where we saw Edward having a good day out with Gaveston and his friends of humble origin, to the eventual capture of Gaveston by the barons. The battle scene was a brilliant coup de theatre, enhanced by smoke and atmosperic lighting by Peter Mumford. Before curtain fall, Edward's grieving over the be-headed Gaveston attained a tragic climax that was heart-rending. However I thought Edward would have treasured Gaveston's head more and would not have knocked it on the wall so many times!

Act 2 was less cogent in dramatic focus. It started off with Edward's adolescent son (the future Edward III) being sent by Isabella to France to be betrothed to the princess Philippa. The young prince Edward was superbly danced by Daniel Taylor from the Royal Ballet School, who was most touching in his graceful innocence. Some scenes were slightly meandering. The sight of Isabella wielding a sword for instance, doing a series of 'coupes jetes en tournant' in her solo, was not particularly convincing.

The scene with Edward in jail with his torturing jailers, and his executioner Lightborn was most graphic in its depiction of bloody violence and sado-masochism. And Edward II's climactic death by a red-hot poker was shocking. After the new adolescent King Edward III had ordered the banishment of Isabella and the execution of her lover Mortimer, there was a allusive final scene where we saw the teenage monarch sitting impassively on his throne, with his young queen sitting below him on the floor playing with a doll.

The whole first cast was superlative. Sabrina Lenzi was the beautiful Isabella with a golden mane of long hair. She danced luminously, with a long flowing line, and elicited the audience's sympathy as the lovelorn queen. Gaveston was convincingly danced by the virile Andrew Murphy; his tender duets with Edward were the emotional heart of the ballet.

The title role of Edward was magnificently danced by Wolfgang Stollwitzer, who originally created the role in 1995. He danced and acted with a core of strength, propelling us all the way with his obsessive passion and inevitable tragedy. At one point before his death, he resembled a Christ-like figure to me.

Joseph Cipolla played Mortimer with charisma, oozing sex appeal with his long hair. Among supporting roles, Marion Tait as Isabella's nurse was a marvellous character dancer and extracted every single nuance inherent in the role. David Justin danced the mythological figure Grim Reaper. Harriet Bass was the teenage French princess.

On Saturday, there was an interesting change of cast. Robert Parker made a powerful debut in the title role. Every step was remarkably certain, and his acting was clear and moving. However Ambra Vallo's dancing as Isabella was small-scaled and the severity of her facial expressions seemed rather one-dimensional. David Justin was her love rival Gaveston.

Peter Davison's sets provided powerful backdrops for dramatic development. Jasper Conran's modish costumes were eye-catching, tasteful and inspired. The Royal Ballet Sinfonia, under Paul Murphy's baton, performed McCabe's music with relish.