Bertolt Brecht's "Edward II" is a ramshackle play -- a mixture of political treatise, costume drama, and character study. It requires a director with a strong vision, one who will allow audiences to move easily along with its sudden temporal shifts while also placing its depiction of a seemingly senseless, unending war into a context from which theatregoers can draw parallels.
Director Gabriel Shanks places "Edward II" (in Eric Bentley's translation) in a vague dystopian future. Costume designer Shannon Maddox dresses the characters in a range of cross-period costumes. King Edward's commoner favorite (more specifically, his paramour), Gaveston (a fiery Noshir Dalal), wears a leather jacket over a hooded sweatshirt. Edward's spurned queen (an overly shrill Janice Herndon), who exacts revenge by raising armies against the throne, wears a wool twill suit. Soldiers are dressed in futuristic olive-gray coveralls and black turtlenecks, while Edward wears a tunic.
Creating a dungeonlike atmosphere is Allen Cutler's production design: Plastic shrouds the stage, and chains and bare light bulbs hang overhead. Lighting designer Erik C. Bruce uses these as the source of illumination for much of the production and as a result the performers are often visible only through murky half-light.
With no firm time or place, many in the cast make broad choices, often resorting to indistinct shouting. In the title role, Willie LeVasseur makes no distinction between Edward's initial capriciousness and later dementia. As one noble troubled by Edward's fondness for Gaveston, John Dohrmann indicates the archbishop's oiliness with halting phrasing that blurs meaning. More successful is Frank Blocker's smug portrayal of the queen's ally, the bookish Mortimer. From the always-on-the-move ensemble, Oscar Castillo stands out as Edward's ally Berkeley, as does Josh Billig's duplicitous Baldock.
Brecht's play has much to say about governmental abuse of power; the message, however, is rarely heard here.