The Marlowe is one of Cambridge's most historic societies, which focuses to this day on producing high-quality, innovative student drama, as well as providing its members with the best possible foundation for entering the theatre industry. The Marlowe Society was founded in May Term 1907 by a group of students including Justin Brooke. It became famous at the time for its inception as a reaction against the Victorian theatre tradition, reviving the presentation in Cambridge of plays by Christopher Marlowe and Shakespeare, which had not been performed since 1886. The society became dedicated to raising the standard of verse-speaking by actors, a tradition which has subsequently embroidered a rich history of steering Cambridge students into the world of professional theatre. Throughout its first century, the society has met with remarkable success as it has stayed true to its original philosophy, acting as a nursery of talent and reform. Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida was unperformed by actors and misunderstood by academics until The Marlowe Society's epoch-making production of 1922. In producing a series of plays by Webster and Ben Jonson, The Marlowe restored their work to the professional repertory. The same applied to our production of Marlowe’s Edward II in 1958; and in 1993 we staged Tamburlaine the Great (directed by Tim Supple) for the first time, in its original form, since the seventeenth century. Other notable productions include 1942's The Duchess of Malfi, which induced Peggy Ashcroft to take the part in the West End, with both productions directed by George Rylands; a White Devil and Measure for Measure which went to Berlin in 1948 in the air-lift as the Foreign Office’s cultural counter-attack to the Red Army Choir; John Barton’s Julius Caesar of 1952, which was acted with Elizabethan pronunciation; a Romeo and Juliet with Barton as Mercutio and Peter Hall as Tybalt which transferred to the Scala, where it was seen by Winston Churchill; Barton’s two parts of Henry IV with McKellen, Jacobi and a notable Falstaff by Clive Swift; the 1958 Edward II with Jacobi directed by Toby Robertson, which was broadcast by the BBC; Corin Redgrave’s production of Henry VI; Trevor Nunn’s Macbeth (1962), which transferred to a very large theatre in Newcastle; Griff Rhys Jones’s rumbustious production of Bartholomew Fair (1977); and Sam Mendes’s memorable Cyrano of 1988 starring Tom Hollander. In the 1950s, The Marlowe Society's achievements were recognised by the British Council, which commissioned us to record the complete, uncut canon of Shakespeare poems and plays in time for the Centennial of 1964, under the direction of George Rylands. The Observer described the recordings as 'the most important thing that has happened to [Shakespeare's] work since Heminges and Condell saw it through the press'. At present there are several strands to the Marlowe's policy. The Society was founded to explore the Jacobethan repertoire, at that date unknown to the stage. To enable the exploration there was an emphasis placed upon the necessary skills: verse-speaking, clarity and intelligence of direction and acting, the values of ensemble playing, and a corresponding lack of emphasis on scenic spectacle. Over the years this has generalised as an interest in drama that stretches beyond ordinary realism towards the challenging and imaginative. Something deriving directly from performing at the Arts Theatre since 1936 has been the introduction of a professional dimension to student theatre at Cambridge. The stimulus of this last has perhaps been the single most important explanation for the phenomenal success of Cambridge actors and directors in British theatre. The new century has brought with it new strands to the Marlowe's dedication to top quality drama, in the form of the promotion of new writing (including the successful Scriptlab series of workshops), and a venture launched in 2004, Directorslab - allowing students the chance to work with professional directors on topics relevant to the theatrical world of today - an opportunity rarely available outside of vocational training. Meanwhile, the Marlowe continues working to continue those traditions established decades ago - in 2007 the Society celebrated its centenary with a dinner auction hosted by Griff Rhys-Jones in Wilton's Music Hall and a production of Cymbeline by Trevor Nunn at the Cambridge Arts Theatre.
