School of Night

This show has now closed, click here for a listing of current and future London shows

Play Was scheduled: Open 27 February 2006, Closes 3 June 2006 This production was cancelled.

Comedy Theatre Panton Street, London

Peter Whelan's play The School of Night investigates the mystery surrounding Christopher Marlowe's stabbing to death, aged just 29, in 1592 in a pub brawl. It also examines Marlowe's association with the leading political and literary figures of the 16th-century including Thomas Kyd, Sir Walter Ralegh and William Shakespeare.

The School of Night is an historical thriller set against the backdrop of political and religious espionage set in 16th century England.

Christopher Eccleston, best knwon for playing 'Doctor Who' in the TV series of the smae name, leads the cast as 'Christopher Marlowe'. This major revival of Peter Whelan's 1992 play The School of Night is directed by Bill Alexander.

"Peter Whelan's play The School of Night should appeal to anybdy interested in the Elizabethan era... It should also please those who enjoy spy thrillers... Historians have the death of the little princes to debate. More general conspiracy theorists have the Kennedy assassination. Now it is the turn of the literati and paranoid cognoscenti. Who stabbed Marlowe through the eye, and why?" The Times

"We know all and we know nothing about the death of Christopher Marlowe. Where and when are a matter of record: Deptford in 1593, stabbed through the eye at the age of 29. But why and on whose orders? Peter Whelan's supremely baroque speculation both subscribes to the Conspiracy School of Thought and transcends it. This is at once a sublime literary whodunit, a dascinating historical evocation of Tudor England, and a brilliant homage to the two great playwrights of the time... A fascinating piece, full of rich rewards" The Daily Mail

"Peter Whelan's thrilling play The School of Night takes it title from a reputedly blasphemous discussion group whose members may have included Christopher Marlowe and Sir Walter Ralegh. Whether such a secret society actually existed, it provides a marvellous premise for Whelan's inquiry into the Elizabethan mind... With a mixture of witty historical anecdotage and delving philosophical and political surmise, Whelan makes one rethink one's assumptions about this supposedly golden age of art and empire..." The Guardian

"Peter Whelan's ingenious play follows Christopher Marlowe through the last months of his life... The piece works on several levels - as thriller, as literary jeu d'esprit, and as a compelling portrait of both Marlowe and his times... Shakespeare also has a key part to play in the complex plot, and Whelan illuminatingly suggests the differances between the two dramatists." The Daily Telegraph