THE SPANISH TRAGEDY to Play Marin Theatre, 7/12-8/11

William Shakespeare is undoubtedly recognized the world over as the most influential writer of the modern age. But, who or what might have influenced Shakespeare?

"When Shakespeare arrived in London in the late 1580s, he probably saw 'The Spanish Tragedy' on stage and it would have been, I think, a revelation," says Mary Ann Koory of San Francisco, Marin Shakespeare Company dramaturg and award-winning teacher at the University of California Berkeley Extension and San Francisco State University.

Marin Shakespeare Company launches its 2013 outdoor summer season with what is believed to be the West Coast premiere of Thomas Kyd's "The Spanish Tragedy." The outdoor production, featuring Julian Lopez-Morillas as Hieronimo, opens July 12 and continues with performances through Aug. 11 at Forest Meadows Amphitheatre in San Rafael, Calif.

Lesley Schisgall Currier directs this riveting play credited as the first Elizabethan revenge tragedy. All the rage of the Elizabethan stage, "The Spanish Tragedy" was hugely popular, widely performed and is regarded as the inspiration for Shakespeare's "Titus Andronicus" and "Hamlet."

As dramaturg, Koory is working with the Marin Shakespeare's cast of "The Spanish Tragedy" and is also blogging about the play and the life and times of Thomas Kyd and William Shakespeare as well as the theatrical process on Marin Shakespeare Company's website.

Koory has long been fascinated by "The Spanish Tragedy" and the way it may have influenced Shakespeare and his plays.

"Thomas Kyd's tragedy showed Shakespeare that a play could be more than a rambling pastoral romance, a creaky series of rants with classical names, or a parade of cartoonish allegorical figures," writes Koory in her blog. "Shakespeare's break-out play 'Titus Andronicus' makes numerous allusions to 'The Spanish Tragedy' and can be read as an extravagant attempt by Shakespeare to outdo Kyd's play."

"Ten years later, when Shakespeare wrote 'Hamlet,' he again reaches back to Kyd to reinvent the revenge tragedy, using a play-within-a-play, a ghost and a father-and-son revenge dyad," writes Koory.

Stage director and Marin Shakespeare Company Managing Director, Lesley Schisgall Currier of San Rafael, is convinced that Kyd's poetic devices influenced Shakespeare.

"While Kyd's characters are not as deeply drawn or as human as Shakespeare's characters, Kyd's language is vigorous and immediate," said Currier. "I think Shakespeare was likely enthralled by the magic of Kyd's rhetoric. The speeches in 'The Spanish Tragedy' are beautifully rhetorical."

Kyd introduced many of the key elements built into revenge tragedy plays with "The Spanish Tragedy," and his use of a revenge-seeking ghost, feigned madness and a play-within-the-play will fascinate audiences familiar with Shakespeare's "Hamlet."

"The fact that the play-within-a-play works as an instrument of bloody revenge is Kyd's invention, as far as we know. The uncertainty of how to take revenge when confronted with murder might be Kyd's innovation, too. Kyd also, we think, introduces the first element of an ironic comic scene in the midst of the main tragic plot," said Koory.

"Kyd's tragedies spoke to Shakespeare and Shakespeare's words may speak to us on behalf of Thomas Kyd," said Koory.

For tickets or more information about Marin Shakespeare Company's production of "The Spanish Tragedy" and its 2013 summer festival season, call 415-499-4488 or visit www.marinshakespeare.org.

Marin Shakespeare Company's "The Spanish Tragedy" will run July 12 to Aug. 11, 2013. Performances presented in repertory at 8 p.m. on select Fridays and Saturdays and 4 or 8 p.m. Sundays. Visit the Marin Shakespeare web site for specific dates and performance times. All shows play at the Forest Meadows Amphitheatre, 890 Belle Avenue, Dominican University of California, San Rafael, Calif.

Tickets: $20 to $37.50. Tickets online: http://www.marinshakespeare.org/pages/ticketorder.php or by calling the Box Office: 415-499-4488.

The Forest Meadows Amphitheatre opens one hour prior to show time for picnicking. Audiences are encouraged to bring picnics or purchase snacks at the Theatre Cafe. Warm clothing, jackets and blankets are recommended for evening performances. Parking is free.

PARKING AREA: A parking area is available adjacent to the amphitheater entrance off of Belle Avenue. To access this parking area, proceed north past the main Dominican parking lot at the Conlan Recreation Center; take the first left onto Belle Avenue. Proceed one block (Marin Tennis Club will be on your right) and turn left into the entrance to the parking lot located at 890 Belle Avenue, San Rafael, CA 94901. Additional parking located at the main lot on Grand Avenue.

Pictured: Julian Lopez-Morillas stars as Hieronimo, Knight-Marshal of Spain. Photo by Steven Underwood.

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