Theatre for a New Audience, which last week extended the run of Tamburlaine The Great, starring John Douglas Thompson, through January 4, has added four more events to "Celebrating Christopher Marlowe" in conjunction with this epic production now on stage at Polonsky Shakespeare Center, 262 Ashland Place, Jeffrey Horowitz, Founding Artistic Director, announced.
Added to the extended run of Marlowe's 1587 Tamburlaine The Great, edited and directed by Olivier Award-winner Michael Boyd with choreography by Sam Pinkleton, music composed by Arthur Solari, and a cast of 19 performing 60 roles, are two talkbacks with John Douglas Thompson after the Sunday matinee performances, December 21 and 28.
And, combining the holiday spirit with the spirit of Tamburlaine The Great, Theatre for a New Audience will host two Bloody Merry Holiday Parties, inviting the audience to party with the cast and crew of Tamburlaine The Great after the Monday evening performances, December 22 and 29.
At the Bloody Merry Holiday Party, all ticket holders will receive a beverage coupon valid for a post-show soft drink, beer, or wine, have the opportunity to meet the cast after the show, and take a backstage tour, which will include a peek at the infamous "blood" room. Guests can purchase additional beverages and food.
Ben Brantley of The New York Times recognized Tamburlaine among the Best Theater of 2014, as well as a Critic's Pick, and hailed
John Douglas Thompson as "dazzling...truly titanic" and said that "
Michael Boyd's version of Tamburlaine is packed with pomp, pageantry, stylized violence, and coruscating theatrical wit."
The production has also been acclaimed by: The New York Review of Books: "In Tamburlaine the Great, Marlowe turns dramatic poetry into a species of stripped down verbal rock...It has often been hard to imagine how [its] power might be resurrected on a contemporary stage. With the indispensable presence of
John Douglas Thompson, Theatre for a New Audience has managed just that at the Polonsky Shakespeare Center;" The New Yorker: "
John Douglas Thompson is riveting. Nineteen very gifted actors play sixty characters in this inspired production;" The Village Voice: "Fast, furious, and funny;" Theatermania: "Fascinatingly modern;" New Jersey Newsroom: "A truly memorable experience."
Theatre for a New Audience's production of
Christopher Marlowe's 1587 Tamburlaine the Great opened Sunday, November 16, and is the play's first major New York production since 1956 on Broadway.
Michael Boyd, who edited the two-part epic into one fast-moving three-hour event, observes, "The more I work on Marlowe's great double-headed masterpiece, with
John Douglas Thompson and this brilliant New York company of actors, the more we see how much Shakespeare learned and stole from him, and understand why."
Single tickets are $55-$85 and may be purchased online at
www.tfana.org, by phone at
866-811-4111, or in person at the Theatre for a New Audience Box Office, 262 Ashland Place. Box office hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 1:00pm to 6:00pm. A limited number of premium seats are available for $100.
New Deal tickets for ages 30 and under or full-time students of any age are priced at $20 each and can be purchased online, by phone, or in person at the box office.
Through December 21, the performance schedule is Tuesday - Saturday evenings at 7:00 PM and Saturday and Sunday matinees at 1:00 PM.
The holiday schedule includes evenings at 7:00 PM on Monday, December 22 and 29, Tuesday, December 23 and 30, Friday, December 26 and January 2, Saturday, December 27 and January 3 and 1:00 PM on Saturday, December 27 and January 3, and Sunday, December 28 and January 4. There will be no performances on Christmas Eve, December 24, or Christmas Day, December 25, or on New Year's Eve, December 31, or New Year's Day, January 1.
Subscriptions for Theatre for a New Audience's 2014-2015 Season are $147 for a 3-play package and are available by calling
(212) 229-2819, ext. 10. Flex Passes are also available for $208 and include four tickets to be used in any combination over the 2014-2015 Season. For information or to subscribe online, please visit
www.tfana.org.
Tamburlaine the Great is sponsored by Deloitte. This production is made possible, in part, by support from The Thompson Family Foundation, Inc., the National Endowment for the Arts, and The Howard Gilman Foundation Fund for Classic Drama.
John Douglas Thompson and Theatre for a New Audience are participants in the Fox Foundation Resident Actor Fellowships, funded by the William & Eva Fox Foundation and administered by Theatre Communications Group.
