BATTLE OF THE BARDS: THE CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE FESTIVAL Comes to Theatre Row

Fledgling Theatre Company and its Artistic Director Matthew Dalton Lynch and The Caravan Theatre Company, under the Artistic Direction of Peter B. Hodges are pairing up to present the first annual BATTLE OF THE BARDS: THE Christopher Marlowe FESTIVAL, a new six week festival that will feature two original plays about William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe and the stories behind the greatest literary deception of all time, April 20th - May 29th in the Studio Theatre at Theatre Row (410 West 42nd Street).

The two productions will make their NYC premieres just as new plagiarism software designed to catch college students cheating now suggests that Shakespeare may have consulted and been influenced by a 1500s manuscript when composing his greatest plays. This is the first time that two theatre companies have joined forces to present plays revealing the truth about Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare on a single stage.

THE SHAKESPEARE CONSPIRACY, written by Ted Bacino and Rufus Cadigan spotlights two conspiracy theories that have fascinated historians for centuries: How could William Shakespeare become England's greatest playwright virtually overnight when he was just a nameless actor who had never written anything before? And how could Christopher Marlowe, known spy and the previous reigning playwright in England, be suspiciously murdered and quickly buried in an unmarked grave just days before he was to be tried for treason?

THE SHAKESPEARE CONSPIRACY answers those questions in a wild romp through gay 16th century Elizabethan England as a rapidly unfolding detective story filled with comedy, intrigue, murder, and an illicit love story. Jeremy Karafin, founder of Poetic Theatre Company, is directing the production. THE SHAKESPEARE CONSPIRACY will play April 20th, 21st, 25th, 26th, 27th, 28th, May 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th at 7:30 and April 22nd, 29th at 2pm. The Running Time is 120 mins.

MARLOWE'S FATE, written and directed by Peter B. Hodges, is a ferocious comedy that begins with Christopher Marlowe's last terrible night in London and ends a lifetime later with Will Shaxper's last explosive night on Earth. Two innocent men struggle to survive while trapped in the Elizabethan Age of Machiavellian spies, slapstick puppets and the outrageous avalanche of unintended consequences that is Marlowe's Fate. MARLOWE'S FATE will play on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, May 10, 11, 12, 17, 18, 19, 24, 25 and 26 at 8:00 pm and Sunday, May 13, 20 and 27 at 2:00 pm. The running time is 120 mins.