Saturday, June 4, is “National Marlowe Day” in England and the United States. But this year the emphasis seems to more on Shakespeare – as in “Did Shakespeare really write those works – or did Marlowe?”
Two recently published books, two new stage plays, and two new movies all ask that same question. And in five of the six cases, the answer is Christopher Marlowe.
For centuries, two questions have plagued historians:
· How could Christopher Marlowe, a known spy and England’s foremost playwright, be suspiciously murdered and secretly buried in unmarked grave – just days before he was to be tried for treason and probably sentenced to death?
· How could William Shakespeare replace Marlowe as England’s greatest playwright virtually overnight – when Shakespeare had never written anything before and was merely an unknown actor?
The two books both try to answer those questions. My book, The Shakespeare Conspiracy, is a historical novel that intertwines both of the above mysteries and then put the pieces together to offer the only possible solution. The novel is a rapidly unfolding detective narrative -- filled with comedy, intrigue, murder and an illicit love story. I’ve billed the novel as “the greatest literary deception of all time.”
The other novel, Blood and Ink, by D.K. Marley, tells how Marlowe sells his soul to see the one thing he desires most: his name immortalized. By a twist of fate, he has a chance encounter with an unknown actor named William Shakespeare and this gives wing to one of England’s greatest secrets.
Marlowe also gets credit for all of Shakespeare’s works in two new plays, one in America and one in England, both with the same title, The Shakespeare Conspiracy. The first is by Andrew Shepherd, opening June 6 at the Chelsea Theatre in London. It’s billed as “a comedy-drama about Shakespearean characters running amok in modern society.”
The other play is a recently completed script of my book. I wrote it in conjunction with the former chairman of the Theater Department of Rockford College in Illinois. It is scheduled for production on October 21 by the theater group “Actors’ Ensemble” in the Chicago, Illinois area.
The two movies on the theme differ as to “who” wrote Shakespeare’s works. A new film, Anonymous, will be released September 30. The film, directed by Roland Emmerich of 2012 fame, credits Edward de Verre, the 17th Earl of Oxford, as the real author of Shakespeare’s works.
The movie stars the former artistic director of the Globe Theatre, Mark Rylance, in addition to Vanessa Redgrave, Joely Richardson and Sir Derek Jacobi.
The second movie, based on my book is scheduled for release in 2012 and, as in the book, credits Marlowe with the writings. It is being produced by the Motion Picture Hall of Fame and Borone Films.
I am, of course, excited about the projects pertaining to my book. But I also find it very exciting that there are – at this time – so many other projects which all seem to question if Shakespeare really wrote those works.
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