Regal eagles.

Out artists Malcolm Gets and Mark Lamos bring England's gay king Edward II to life in San Francisco

Beautiful, sexy, and celebratory." That's how famed stage director Mark Lamos describes his audacious new production of Christopher Marlowe's Edward II. "We're not pulling any punches," he adds.

Onstage through June 4 at San Francisco's American Conservatory Theater, Lamos's production is a hard-hitting revival of the drama recounting the 14th-century life and cruel execution of England's notoriously homosexual king, who reigned from 1307 to 1327.

Starring in the title role is Malcolm Gets, an acclaimed theater actor who's best known for his role as Caroline's boyfriend, Richard, on NBC's erstwhile Caroline in the City. What fans of the show may not know is that Gets is openly gay.

Gets, 36, isn't fazed by coming out. In fact, he says, he was quite open during his years working for NBC. "I struggled with maintaining a sense of some privacy," he tells The Advocate. "But if you have any sort of political firings in your heart, it gets confusing."

Playing England's doomed gay king is one way for Gets to act on his convictions. "Homophobia is a part of why the earls and barons insisted on having Edward II killed," Gets says. But that's not the whole story, he argues: "Other messy and complicated issues" about this very human king led to his downfall.

Lamos also interprets the play as a stow about what he calls "the politicization of sexuality. I'm seeing this through post-Monicagate eyes," he says. "Particularly the vituperative battle waged against President Clinton for what amounted to a sexual peccadillo."

Clinton's situation, serious as it was, pales beside Edward's. The king's political patronage of his lover, the commoner Piers Gaveston--on whom Edward showered land and titles--further enraged his enemies. "It's as if Clinton had given [Lewinsky] a cabinet position," Lamos says.

History students know what happened next. In a sinister play on his sexuality, Edward's executioners are said to have fatally stabbed hint in the rectum with a hot iron poker--a scene gay filmgoers will vividly recall from Derek Jarman's 1991 movie version. While Lamos avoids Jarman's anachronisms ("No sunglasses or cell phones," he quips), he won't shrink front portraying the violence of the murder.

Another thing Lamos won't do is equate Edward's sexual identity with effeminacy. While previous productions of the Marlowe play have portrayed the king and his court as "campy, screaming" conspirators, Lamos will focus on the masculine bond between men: "It's not just about sexual urges; Edward was deeply in love."

Lamos is a veteran al; putting a human face on the phases of love between men. As an actor, he won acclaim--and helped win an Oscar nomination for costar Bruce Davison--for his performance as Sean, who, with Davison at his side, passes away in an unforgettable deathbed sequence in 1990's Longtime Companion. "People still thank me," says Lamos, "saying how it helped them deal with losing somebody they loved."

Lamos recently celebrated his 20th anniversary with partner Jerry Jones. During their relationship he has kept busy as a prolific and lauded stage director. Acclaimed for his opera and Shakespeare productions, Lamos won a 1989 Tony award as artistic director of Connecticut's Hartford Stage Company, which he headed for 17 seasons.

With this production of Edward II--not just a stow about a gay king but also one written by a reputedly gay playwright--Lamos and Gets hope to reach audiences in a direct way.

Gets, for one, says he admires Edward's courage. "Even though he behaves so destructively," says the actor about playing the king, "I felt a desire to make a positive statement."

Provenzano is the author of the novel PINS, published by Myrmidude Press.