Klingon Tamburlaine

What I liked

The attention to detail – who knew that Romulans blood is green and Klingon blood is magenta! The acting – the characters are so richly brought to life, and classical verse is imbued fully and clearly with meaning for contemporary audiences. The stage combat – man, those women are badass. The stage craft – the final battle scene is remarkable. Don’t want to write too much about it, as I don’t want to ruin it for future audiences.

What I didn't like

I want to see this play presented on a bigger platform with an extended set of shows. I’m frustrated that many of my friends will not be able to see this play. It deserves to have a second life after Fringe!

My overall impression

Let me start out by saying that I am not of a fan of either Marlowe or Star Trek, so I really was not sure what to expect with this show, and I had relatively modest expectations as to whether or not I would enjoy it. Boy was I beyond pleasantly surprised. I loved it. How do you take a Marlow play and merge it with the Star Trek environment and avoid having it be all camp? Well, Christopher Johnson did it, and bravo to him. The genius of it all (yes, genius) is that, not only is it not all camp, but the Star Trek world turns out to be the absolute perfect platform for the retelling of the Tamburlaine tale. That’s where the genius starts, but genius certainly flows throughout the entire production. Furthering the genius of attempting this effort itself is the intensely creative execution of the production. Pay attention to the details! Although confined by the constraints of a Fringe show, the degree of complexity (stage combat, special effects, costumes, stage craft, music, etc.) is remarkable. And then, let’s talk about the talent. The actors do a magnificent job balancing the tone of Marlowe and Star Trek. Somehow the show made me laugh and enjoy the campy elements, while simultaneously enabling me to take seriously the underlying themes. This resulted in large part from the exceptional acting that served to achieve that balance. What an enjoyable show. I highly recommend it to Star Trek fans, fans of classical theater, and fans of neither! A must see.