Shakespeare Theatre Company Presents Works By Christopher Marlowe's

With ravishing poetry, Marlowe ruminates on one man's overwhelming desire for immortality. Adapted and directed by Michael Kahn, Tamburlaine runs from October 28, 2007 to January 6, 2008. Gale Edwards returns to the Company to direct Edward II with Wallace Acton in the title role. Deemed by many to be Marlowe's crowning achievement, Edward II features the playwright's most nuanced characters and some of his finest language. Edward II will run October 27, 2007 to January 6, 2008. Both plays will run at the new Sidney Harman Hall, which joins the existing Lansburgh Theatre to create the Harman Center for the Arts.

In conjunction with its rotating repertory productions of Tamburlaine and Edward II, the Shakespeare Theatre Company presents a multi-disciplinary Marlowe Festival celebrating the genius and influence of Christopher Marlowe.

The Marlowe repertory is supported by a generous grant from Michael Klein and Joan Fabry. Production support for Tamburlaine is sponsored by Arlene and Robert Kogod. Production support for Edward II is provided by the Lawyers Committee for the Shakespeare Theatre Company. Media partner Washington Flyer provides promotional support throughout the run.

"If we are interested in Shakespeare we must be interested in Marlowe because of the influence that each had on the other," said Michael Kahn. "If Marlowe's life hadn't been cut short, I imagine his relationship with Shakespeare would have developed just as Matisse and Picasso's did, with the two continuously in conversation with each other. Marlowe is a writer who developed hugely in a short amount of time, and with Tamburlaine and Edward II we get to experience his work at both the beginning and end of his career."

TAMBURLAINE

In Part I, Tamburlaine raises himself from lowly shepherd to leader of a growing empire. Hearing that the Persian King Mycetes and his brother Cosroe are bickering over their territories, Tamburlaine seizes the opportunity to defeat them. Mycetes learns of Tamburlaine's ambition and sends his captain Theridamas to intercept him. Instead, Tamburlaine builds an alliance with Theridamas and Cosroe, and the combined armies quickly defeat Mycetes. Tamburlaine then turns on Cosroe, claiming Persia for himself. Meanwhile, Tamburlaine captures the beautiful Egyptian princess Zenocrate to be his bride and heads toward Turkey to challenge Bajazeth. Tamburlaine easily defeats Bajazeth in battle and takes him and his wife, Zambina, for his slaves. Now Emperor of Africa, Tamburlaine shifts his focus toward Egypt, where Zenocrate's father, the Sultan, is determined to protect his kingdom and win his daughter back. Fearing the worst, Zeoncrate begs Tamburlaine to spare her father's life, and though Tamburlaine triumphs over his army, the Sultan remains unscathed. Grateful, Zenocrate agrees to marry Tamburlaine.

In Part II, Callapine, the captive son of Bajazeth, escapes from Tamburlaine's prison and returns to Turkey to raise an army, while Tamburlaine vows to continue his conquests with the help of his sons Amyras, Calyphas and Celebinus. When Zenocrate becomes ill and dies, Tamburaline is sick with grief and orders the town to be set on fire and a statue erected in her honor. Tamburlaine's son Calyphas soon proves disinterested in warfare, and Tamburlaine has him killed while in Balsera, where his generals Theridamas and Techelles also murder the city's Captain and imprison his wife, Olympia. Grief-stricken, Olympia pleads for death and tricks Theridamas into killing her. The soldiers move to Babylon where they brutally execute the Governor, and Tamburlaine claims his supremacy over Mohammad by burning all holy Islamic books in the city's temples, challenging Mohammad to punish him. Tamburlaine becomes ill as Callapine's massive army surrounds Babylon but musters his strength to appear on the battlefield, where his presence alone sends Callapine's army into retreat. With death approaching, Tamburlaine charts his victories on a map and crowns his eldest son Emperor. Bidding his sons farewell, he dies.

"Tamburlaine is an extraordinary human story about a man who is a ruthless conqueror and amazing intellect," said director Michael Kahn. "Itis a critique and yet a celebration of individualism and drive— their good points and dangers—and also a pretty subversive play about class in which a man of humble origin conquers the best of the world. Issues of power, expansion and religion were immensely important to the Elizabethans, and there is no question that Marlowe is having that conversation with the audience when he writes about this historical figure."

TAMBURLAINE CAST

Avery Brooks returns to play Tamburlaine. Brooks appeared with the Company in the title role of Othello (2005 and 1991)and as Oedipus in both the 2001 mainstage and 2003 Athens Festival production of The Oedipus Plays.An accomplished actor, director, musician and educator, Brooks has performed to critical acclaim the title role in the Phillip Hayes Dean play Paul Robeson since 1982. He has sung opera and performed vocals with numerous jazz artists, including the Paris Banlieues Bleues Festival in 2005. His film credits include Solomon Northrup's Odyssey, American History: X and Fifteen Minutes. His television credits include the role of Hawk in A Man Called Hawk and Spenser: for Hire, and Captain Sisko in the Star Trek series Deep Space Nine. In 1994, he was inducted into the College of Fellows of the American Theatre. For more than 35 years, Brooks has been affiliated with Rutgers University, where he was the first black MFA graduate in acting and directing. He is currently a tenured professor of theatre at Rutgers' Mason Gross School of the Arts.

Additional casting for Tamburlaine includes Terence Archie, Danyon Davis, James Denvil, Franchelle Stewart Dorn, Robert Jason Jackson, Scott Jaeck, Floyd King, James Konicek, Andrew Long, Deanne Lorette, Christopher Marino, David McCann, Jonathan Earl Peck, Jefferson A. Russell, David Sabin, David Emerson Toney, Mia Tagano, Kurt Uy, Craig Wallace, Amy Kim Waschke and Jay Whittaker. -- www.shakespearetheatre.org