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Extracts from Stephen Fry's programme note from a 1989 production of Latin
Now Latin has come back to haunt me. It is very difficult for a chap trying to make his way in the world, earn the respect of his peers, the affection of his friends and the hard cash of his paying customers suddenly to be confronted by the deeds of his wild youth. It is almost like meeting yourself as you once were. I am making the play sound like the most precocious juvenilia there ever was: In fact I wrote Latin when I was twenty-two and, you may think, in a position to know better.
Strangely enough, the subject matter of the piece was the least of my concerns. I had long ago decided that it would be interesting to start a play in which the audience were addressed as if they were fictional characters and then, suddenly, with no more than a lighting change, to have the `third wall' of theatrical distance erected in front of them - to change them from participants to spectators in a flash. In choosing the subject of an English prep school, I followed the simple maxim of algebraic problem-solvers and novelists everywhere: `Write down what you know.' Prep schools I knew...
...the writing of Latin was ... an experiment in the techniques of theatre and comedy, combined with a not entirely disgraceful undergraduate desire to shock. Death, homosexuality, incest, sadism and Thatcherism had all been proudly paraded on stage for years and the senses of the theatre-going public were quite anaesthetised to any of the horrors that those topics could engender: Pederasty on the other hand could still, I hoped, set a few ganglions quivering....I had the most terrific fun writing the play and acting in it in Cambridge and Edinburgh: I wish you a quarter of as much pleasure in watching it. Valete.
Notes from the Director - how it all came about
When I first expressed my interest in directing a production for the studio Latin was immediately suggested as a possible choice. I accepted this suggestion readily, knowing very little of its content but being certain that, written as it was by Stephen Fry, I would love it. I did and do even more now having worked so closely with the text over the rehearsal period. I hope that you too will delight in the richness of its language and outrageously bizarre behaviour of its characters. Soon after agreeing to direct Latin, it was pointed out that the play only lasts about an hour and so, in a rash moment of self-confidence, I asked if I could write something to perform after the interval. I have had the idea for linking Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare together in a romantic way for some years and thought this was the opportunity to do so. Choosing a modern setting had advantages and disadvantages. Obviously it made language and cultural references easy, but there were problems.
Marlowe was a radical figure in his time. He was a notorious homosexual in an age where, although sexual activities with boys were accepted as a social pastime (Dominic Clarke would have been in his element!) long-term, adult same-sex partnerships were frowned upon. Also, having studied for to join the clergy, he was an atheist - not as bad as being a Catholic or a Puritan in the Elizabethan era but nevertheless not a safe theological standpoint. Times have changed and these aspects of his character no longer have much dramatic impact. I chose, therefore to focus primarily on his role as government agent. Marlowe was involved in gathering and passing information that smoothed the way for the execution of Mary Queen of Scots. He was eventually murdered by 'friends' who also worked for the government. Though the case was dismissed as self-defence, there has been continued speculation that his death was a political assassination. The parallels were strong enough to lead me to adopt one of the conspiracy theories that abounded after the death of Princess Diana and to lead Chris Marlon to his death in this way.
William Shakespeare was not known to be homosexual but did write 126 sonnets to an unknown male. There are mixed views as to whether this young man was a lover or merely a friend. To my mind the contents of these sonnets transcends the level of floweriness that was common between men at the time. They talk of love, jealousy, infidelity, beauty and pining. At the time of Marlowe's death, Shakespeare was yet to make any great impact on the London stage and, of course, he had his estranged wife and children in Stratford. The stage was set for two men living double lives to be thrown together as fellow writers and lovers - Secrets was born.
All the biographical details are authentic to the best of my knowledge, though gleaned from the writings of others whose research I trust to be sound. I thank them all for saving me a lot of hard work! I thoroughly enjoyed writing Secrets and have learnt an enormous amount about stagecraft from the experience of both writing and directing. Thank you to the cast and crew for all their incredible dedication and hard work and thank you for your support in coming along to watch - I hope you enjoy our double bill.
Jane Martin, May 2003
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