The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 10.0035  Sunday, 10 January 1999.

[1]     From:   Lisa Hopkins <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
        Date:   Friday, 8 Jan 1999 15:23:00 -0000
        Subj:   Massacre at Paris

[2]     From:   Stephanie Hughes <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
        Date:   Friday, 08 Jan 1999 16:47:57 +0000
        Subj:   Re: SHK 10.0031 Re: Personality; Marlowe; Coleridge


[1]-----------------------------------------------------------------
From:           Lisa Hopkins <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Date:           Friday, 8 Jan 1999 15:23:00 -0000
Subject:        Massacre at Paris

I saw a production of The Massacre at Paris at The Other Place in
Stratford(-upon-Avon) in around 1984 or 85.  I have the feeling that it
might have been some sort of one-off rather than a full part of the
season.  It was quite entertaining, though (or perhaps because) heavily
camped up - when Coligny was pushed from a balcony it was quite clearly
a stuffed dummy, for instance.  I should think the reason it's not very
often done is because of its brevity and the problematic nature of the
text.

Lisa Hopkins
Sheffield Hallam University
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

[2]-------------------------------------------------------------
From:           Stephanie Hughes <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Date:           Friday, 08 Jan 1999 16:47:57 +0000
Subject: 10.0031 Re: Personality; Marlowe; Coleridge
Comment:        Re: SHK 10.0031 Re: Personality; Marlowe; Coleridge

> I was curious as to whether any list members have been involved with or
> seen productions of Marlowe's Massacre at Paris. I've never had the
> opportunity, and wondered how often it is produced, and if rarely, why
> that might be. (I have not read the play either, so it may be that it's
> not especially amenable to production, although that seems unlikely
> given Marlowe's other work). All comments appreciated.
>
> Chris Gordon

I noticed that Massacre at Paris is about half the length of Faustus,
Tamburlaine or Malta, which causes me to think that it may have been
severely edited. It was Marlowe's last play, the one that was still
current when he was assassinated (or transported). Charles Nicholl in
his detailed examination of the facts surrounding Marlowe's death in his
book The Reckoning makes it clear that he was silenced by the
government, most likely, to my view (though not to Nicholl's), for the
messages he was putting forth in his writing.  If this was the case,
then it may be that Massacre in its entirety never saw the light of
publication due to perceived seditious messages it put forth.

Stephanie Hughes

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