Tamburlaine the Great, Part 2

The American Theatre of Actors presents Christopher Marlowe’s Tamburlaine the Great, Part 2 in its outdoor theatre. In 1587, Christopher Marlowe (who was born one month before William Shakespeare), while still a student at Cambridge University, wrote the first part of Tamburlaine the Great. Its success was so great that he wrote a sequel later that year. While this sequel contains some of the same characters as the first part, there is no continuation of the plot, so audience members not familiar with Part 1 will not have any trouble following the action.

Tartar warrior Tamburlaine (based loosely on the historical Mongol conqueror Timur the Lame (1336-1405) conquers cities in Iraq, including Basra and Babylon (around 50 miles south of modern Baghdad). Subplots include a tale of betrayal between European and Turkish monarchs and the obsession one of Tamburlaine’s allies has for the wife of a conquered governor. Jeff Dailey directs.