The Making of Marlowe: poet, playwright, provocateur, at The Beaney, Canterbury
An interactive exhibition exploring the life of Canterbury’s most famous poet and playwright
An interactive exhibition exploring the life of Canterbury’s most famous poet and playwright, Christopher Marlowe, will come to The Beaney in Canterbury for 2026.
Born in 1564 - the same year as William Shakespeare - Marlowe came of age during the height of the English Renaissance. The son of a shoemaker, he received an elite education thanks to scholarships that took him from the King’s School, Canterbury, to Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.
By the late 1580s, he was writing for London’s commercial playhouses, completing tragedies such as Tamburlaine and Doctor Faustus that stunned audiences with their power and intensity. Marlowe’s life was as dramatic as his works. He may have served as a spy for Elizabeth I’s government while at Cambridge. He was arrested several times in England and abroad, accused of violent behaviour and illicit activities, suspected of heresy and atheism and ultimately killed at the age of just 29 in suspicious circumstances.
Created in partnership between Canterbury Museums & Galleries and The Oxford Marlowe Project at the University of Kent, the exhibition includes artefacts, historical documents and interactive displays that bring Marlowe’s story to life.
25th July - 22nd November, 2026
