Photo Flash: First Look at MARLOWE'S FATE Off-Broadway

MARLOWE'S FATE, is a ferocious new comedy that spotlightsChristopher Marlowe's last terrible night in London and ends a lifetime later with Will Shaxper's last explosive night on Earth.

Christopher Marlowe, the most talented and accomplished playwright and poet of his generation, meets his terrible fate in a shocking and surprising confrontation in a riverside tavern in Deptford. One week later, Shaxper (aka Shakespeare) is recruited to act as stand-in for the disgraced Marlowe, putting his alias on Marlowe's poem, Venus and Adonis. Five years later, as Shakespeare's fame grows, Ben Jonson is hired to keep him under control. The second act begins with a Punch and Judy Puppet show staging a title fight between Shakespeare and Marlowe puppets for the English literary crown. Finally, Ben Jonson and Michael Drayton join Shaxper to celebrate his 52nd birthday at his daughter's inn where a lifetime of thwarted dreams reaches an explosive conclusion.

The production is the second part of BATTLE OF THE BARDS: THE Christopher Marlowe FESTIVAL, a six week festival that features two original plays about William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe and the stories behind the greatest literary deception of all time. MARLOWE'S FATE will run May 10th- May 26thin the Studio Theatre at Theatre Row (410 West 42nd Street). The official opening will be on Thursday, May 17.

Photo Credit: DDPR