MURDERING MARLOWE Opens at The Country Playhouse, Today

The Country Playhouse will present Murdering Marlowe by Charles Marowitz, in its Black Box venue for three weekends only, November 2 – 17. Performances are on Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 p.m., with a Sunday matinee on November 11 at 2:00 p.m., plus a weeknight show on Thursday, November 15, at 7:30 p.m.

A far cry from the standard view of Shakespeare, Murdering Marlowe presents the Bard as insecure and whining, outmaneuvered by women, and unable to write plays because he's too intimidated by his more talented rival – Christopher Marlowe. He hires some thugs to do Marlowe in, and therein hangs our tale. Supremely charismatic, Marlowe blithely wends his way towards death as the plot tightens around him, but Shakespeare loses too. It's complicated.

Directed by Christine Weems, the cast includes Scott McWhirter, Cameron Cooper, Haley Cooper, Melissa McEver Huckabay, L. RoBert Westeen, Anthony Torres, Sam Martinez, and Scott Holmes.

Shakespeare's nature has been endlessly debated and psychoanalyzed over the centuries since his death – how could a provincial lowbrow be so gifted? Marlowe's dramatic genius appears far richer, but his barroom death left few clues. In this 2001 theory, we see a CSI-like reconstruction of the crime scene: Shakespeare's all alibied-up while the hit men strike, and Ann Hathaway and the Dark Lady wash their hands of it. An Elizabethan procedural thriller, Murdering Marlowe reveals Shakespeare's success to be the neurotic sum of all the schemes that surrounded him. Playwright Marowitz, a close collaborator with Peter Brook at London's Royal Shakespeare Company, also authored Sherlock's Last Case, on Broadway in 1987 starring Frank Langella.

Ticket prices are $23 for adults, and $19 for students and seniors. Groups of 20 or more receive a $5.00 discount off the adult price. Call the box office at 713-467-4497 for reservations, or make them online at www.countryplayhouse.org (at no additional charge).

Country Playhouse is located at 12802 Queensbury, Houston 77024 (across from City Centre), just two blocks east of the Sam Houston Tollway. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter.