The Marlowe Society is one of Cambridge’s oldest and most prestigious drama societies. Since its creation in 1907, the society has had a profound influence on British theatre, both by producing some of the country’s most renowned actors and directors – including, among others, Trevor Nunn, Peter Hall, Derek Jacobi and Ian McKellen – and by redefining the relationship between modern dramatists and early modern verse.

Today, the Marlowe society continues to specialise in producing high-quality and innovative productions of Elizabethan and Jacobean plays, in particular through our annual show at the Cambridge Arts Theatre, but has also branched out into supporting new writing in Cambridge; the society now runs an annual new writing competition and regularly finances productions of plays written by Cambridge students.