So I've not been to a Christopher Marlowe play before. Bit of an oversight. He's one of the main ones, right? I figured I'd put that right and head to Doctor Faustus, you know the one up town with Jon Snow in. No, not Jon Snow from the news, the "You know nothing, Jon Snow" Jon Snow.
Turns out it wasn't a traditional version. It had been updated to the 1830s. Sorry, if that's conjuring images of Charles Dickens and stovepipe hats. I shall clarify, it had been updated for the 18-30s. I can't remember the time I last saw something so dumbed down (sex jokes, in jokes, slapstick - to be fair probably how Marlowe wrote it). But equally I think that this is the first time I upped the average age of an audience for an Elizabethan play.
Maybe getting people out the sleb mags is the way to get people into the more obscure fringes of theatre. Maybe get Joey Essex to do Ionesco, you may have to imply that it's a Greek Island with a banging club scene...
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