The School of Night (play)

The School of Night
Written by	Peter Whelan
Date premiered	1992
Place premiered	The Other Place, Stratford-upon-Avon
Original language	English
Subject	Christopher Marlowe and his friends flirt with blasphemy
Genre	Period piece;
Setting	Sixteenth century: Scadbury Park and London, England

The School of Night is a play by Peter Whelan. It was first performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company at The Other Place, Stratford-upon-Avon on the 4th November 1992.

The play takes place between the Summer of 1592 and Spring 1593. It concerns the life of Christopher Marlowe and the mystery surrounding his untimely death during a brawl in Deptford, set against a backdrop of a politically and religiously divided England where the state and its spies watch those who may be accused of sedition, treason and blasphemy.

In Scadbury Park, the home of Thomas Walsingham, Marlowe engages in a mock incantation to his personal deity Dog. He discusses his religious scepticism with Walsingham and Kyd. They introduce an actor called Tom Stone who will be performing for them in tandem with Rosalinda, a mixed-race Italian actress who is in love with Marlowe. Marlowe and Rosalinda are suspicious of Stone, who asks a lot of questions. Rosalinda is convinced she has seen him before. Walter Raleigh arrives to witness the performance. They discuss art, politics and religion while watching Stone and Rosalinda act in a risqué satire written by Marlowe. Afterwards Stone queries Kyd about the ‘school of night’, an allegedly atheistic and subversive secret society to which Raleigh, Walsingham and Marlowe belonged. Kyd tells Stone that it was supposed to have promoted republicanism. He also tells him about Marlowe's early career as a spy. Marlowe and Rosalinda reappear and confront Stone. They have discovered that his real name is Shakespeare, author of the Henry VI plays. He explains that he is using a stage name, but they are unconvinced. Shakespeare tells Marlowe he is working on a poem, Venus and Adonis. Marlowe is surprised by the similarity to his own new project Hero and Leander. Kyd decides to leave Scadbury.

A day later: Shakespeare has been in bed with Rosalinda. Marlowe enters and reads some lines from Shakespeare’s new poem. He is disturbed by its power. He and Shakespeare discuss literature. Walsingham informs Marlowe that his indiscreet declarations of heretical opinions can get them all in trouble. Raleigh has already been arrested on the unrelated charge of marrying illegally, but they are all coming under suspicion. In London Skeres and Poley burst into Kyd’s rooms and arrest him, looking for documents believed to be held by Marlowe on the 'school of night'.

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