Marlowe's The Massacre at Paris - Bankside

The Dolphin's Back presents Christopher Marlowe's The Massacre at Paris at the Rose Theatre, Bankside from 7 to 26 October 2014, marking the first professional run of the play in four hundred years.

The play was first performed at The Rose in 1593 and 2014 marks the 450th anniversary of Marlowe's birth, like his colleague Shakespeare. John Gregor stars as the Duke of Guise, with James Askill as King Henry III, and Kristin Milward as Catherine de Medici. The production is directed by James Wallace.

Both History and satire, horror-show and political thriller, The Massacre at Paris is Marlowe's last, most controversial, and most neglected play. It retells 20 years of the French Wars of Religion, from the 1572 St Bartholomew's Day Massacre, through the poisoning of Charles IX, to the coronation and subsequent assassination of his flamboyant, homosexual brother Henry III. The play's anti-hero, the villainous Duke of Guise, proves to be the ultimate Marlovian over-reacher.

The Dolphin's Back is a new theatre company dedicated to rescuing forgotten plays and bringing them back into contemporary performance.