Tamburlaine the Censored

Ah the brave world of the theatre, where playwrights and directors insist loudly on their mission to speak truth to power; to expose the hypocrisies of our time with relentless courage and steely determination, unbowed by the pressures and threats from church or state....

It was the surprise hit of the autumn season, selling out for its entire run and inspiring rave reviews. But now the producers of Tamburlaine the Great have come under fire for censoring Christopher Marlowe’s 1580s masterpiece to avoid upsetting Muslims.

Audiences at the Barbican in London did not see the Koran being burnt, as Marlowe intended, because David Farr, who directed and adapted the classic play, feared that it would inflame passions in the light of the London bombings.

Simon Reade, artistic director of the Bristol Old Vic, said that if they had not altered the original it “would have unnecessarily raised the hackles of a significant proportion of one of the world’s great religions”.

The burning of the Koran was “smoothed over”, he said, so that it became just the destruction of “a load of books” relating to any culture or religion. That made it more powerful, they claimed.

Members of the audience also reported that key references to Muhammad had been dropped, particularly in the passage where Tamburlaine says that he is “not worthy to be worshipped”. In the original Marlowe writes that Muhammad “remains in hell”.

Comments

[J.Cassian]

Back in May this year I predicted something of the kind might happen to this very play (comments at http://foreigndispatches.typepad.com/dispatches/2005/05/blame_where_bla.html). Not a very difficult prophecy to make, I grant you. Next up for a ban: Dante's "Inferno"? Beckford's "Vathek"? Mummers' plays? Who knows in our wonderful new world of artistic freedom.

[Dom]

"if they had not altered the original it “would have unnecessarily raised the hackles of a significant proportion of one of the world’s great religions”."

Did anyone say that after "Life of Brian" was released?