Tamburlaine Must Die Stage Play

“Christopher Marlowe wrote some of the most beautiful poetry in the English language. He also wrote a groundbreaking smash hit of a play, Tamburlaine the Great (so popular that - in the style of modern blockbusters - it was soon followed by Tamburlaine the Great II). Marlowe’s writings embody tenderness and brutality. The contradiction between these extremes of emotion is part of what drew me towards him, and part of what will make him move on stage.

When someone calling himself Tamburlaine threatens Marlowe, the playwright knows he’s in trouble. Soon agents of the church and state are also pursuing him. Marlowe resolves to be as ruthless as the creature he created and unmask his persecutor. It’s a decision that takes him through the darker outreaches of the city, a decision that may cost him his life.

Tamburlaine Must Die is a book bound up in theatre. I’m excited that the Tron and Glasgay! are producing it together and can’t wait to see Marlowe striding across the stage as he strode through the book, and so often through my imagination.”