Literature Network » Christopher Marlowe

Gutsy telling of an ego fixed on war; THEATRE Tamburlaine Barbican Theatre.

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From: The Evening Standard (London, England)
Date: 20051114
Author:

Byline: FIONA MOUNTFORD

IT CAN be no great surprise that this is one of Christopher Marlowe's leastperformed plays. Even though director David Farr has condensed the two parts into one, Tamburlaine remains a largely unknowable antihero who displays a frustrating lack of inner life. What exactly propels him on his ransacking way?

We first encounter a lowly Scythian shepherd but, with clinical efficiency and loyal followers, Tamburlaine mutates into a lean, mean all-conquering machine.

Enemies are confusingly dispatched before we can get a handle on them and, lo, the ...

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