Love, Success and Envy in ‘Murdering Marlowe’
The Malibu Stage Company presents a clever portrayal of a struggling young Shakespeare.
By Caroline Thomas/Special to The Malibu Times
“Murdering Marlowe,” which opened at the Malibu Stage Company June 7, is a classic Shakespearean mix of drama, comedy and unmitigated tragedy. A well-rounded cast brings to life the unusual notion of the possible rivalry between Shakespeare and his true-life contemporary, Christopher Marlowe.
Imagine William Shakespeare as not the suave Joseph Fiennes in the romantic “Shakespeare in Love,” but rather an envious, unscrupulous wannabe who can’t bear the success of his competition. This is the stuff of “Murdering Marlowe,” written and directed by Charles Marowitz.
The play begins with Shakespeare’s impassioned plotting of the demise of his nemesis, the all-too-popular “Kit” Marlowe. Michael Matthys passionately portrays the tormented Shakespeare, a failure who believes it is his duty to rid the world of Marlowe.
“God will bless this happy land that hath one heathen less,” Shakespeare surmises.
Shakespeare’s degrading struggles are brought to the forefront by his poor and unfulfilled wife, Ann Hathaway. Terry Diab plays Hathaway with stabbing bitterness and despair, providing the impetus for Shakespeare’s desperate funk. Thankfully, after an unending wifely emasculation, a respite comes with the playwright’s paramour, Emilia. Susan Duerden, who hails from West End theatre, brings grace and warmth to the loving devotee, who Shakespeare calls “Lucifer in lace.” Later it’s revealed that he’s not far off the mark; she is also having an affair with the dreaded rival, Marlowe. All very incestuous, in typical Shakespearean style.
Enter the outgoing, cynical, self-absorbed Marlowe. Without his new work, “all art will cease,” he proclaims. J.D. Cullum last appeared at the Malibu Stage Company in “The Lady’s Not For Burning” and returns in another dynamic role. (Theater is in the blood; his father John Cullum was up for a Tony last week for his role in the Broadway hit “Urinetown.”)
Cullum’s Marlowe is actually the most interesting character here, with his flamboyance and verbosity.
“The ‘Marlowe-ian Age’ will replace the Elizabethan Age,” he blazons. His diatribes are only interrupted by the entrance of the lovely Emilia and the unfolding of their clever affair.
The Elizabethan prose of the play is engaging and easily decipherable. Marowitz, artistic director and co-founder of the Malibu Stage Company, spent 20 years in London working with the Royal Shakespeare Company and adapting Shakespearean prose. There are a lot of clever one-liners-some of which pass by too quickly. At one point, Steven Irish, playing the Queen’s emissary, Henry Maunder, reaches great heights in hyperbole discussing the treasonous, Godless ways of Marlowe.
“Yes, he fell victim to the lure of Thespis” (the Greek founder of tragic theater).
A play on words is effective when theater director Philip Henslowe, amusingly played by Kevin Carr, exalts to a beleaguered Shakespeare that “A Comedy of Eros” would be far more appealing fare for London audiences, rather than the suggested “Comedy of Errors.”
“The title is too pat, and too on the nose,” Henslowe ridicules.
The play has a comfortable flow through the numerous scenes presented in one 90-minute act. The staging is rather stark and uncomplicated, but appropriate for the Elizabethan purists where the performance is “the thing.” Luckily, Marowitz has assembled a talented cast that can pulloff the fabricated yarn. The audience didn’t seem to mind that the world’s beloved Shakespeare was presented as an insecure, conniving scoundrel-just another tortured artist.
“Murdering Marlowe” is scheduled to continue performances throughout June. Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 5 p.m. Tickets are available at the Malibu Stage Company box office at 29243 Pacific Coast Highway or by calling 310.589.1998.