Following an extraordinary international journey that has taken it from Italy to Ireland and Romania, Abrahamse & Meyer Productions’ critically acclaimed production II finally returns to Cape Town at the Artscape Arena from 23 to 25 July 2026.
After its world premiere to significant critical and audience acclaim at the Verona Shakespeare Fringe Festival in Italy, celebrated performances at Wilde Stages: Dublin’s Queer Theatre Festival, and an invitation to the prestigious Craiova International Shakespeare Festival – the world’s largest celebration of Shakespearean theatre – II comes home to Cape Town for a strictly limited season.
An innovative and visually arresting reimagining of Shakespeare’s Richard II and Christopher Marlowe’s Edward II, II brings together two of history’s most tragic monarchs in a haunting encounter beyond time.
Darkly atmospheric and deeply moving
Bound by power, ambition, desire and loss, Richard and Edward meet in a fractured poetic landscape where history becomes confession and the burdens of kingship are laid bare. By intertwining key scenes and monologues from Shakespeare and Marlowe, the production reveals unexpected resonances between two of the English stage’s most compelling rulers.
Darkly atmospheric and deeply moving, II is both an intimate chamber piece and a meditation on the nature of power, identity, and the transience of earthly authority.
The production features Marcel Meyer as Edward II and Matthew Baldwin as Richard II. Adapted by Fred Abrahamse and Marcel Meyer from Shakespeare’s Richard II and Marlowe’s Edward II, the production features an original score and soundscape by Charl-Johan Lingenfelder, with set and costume design by Fred Abrahamse and Marcel Meyer, and direction by Fred Abrahamse.
What: II
Where and when: Artscape Arena from 23 to 25 July 2026
Tickets: Webtickets
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