The Afternoon Performance

"BARNSTORMING PERFORMANCE"
The Stage

"TENEBROUS MAGIC"
Fringe Review

"A MASTERCLASS"
Brighton Argus

"ENTHRALLS"
Broadway Baby

THE MARLOWE PAPERS "A MUST SEE"
VoiceMag

About the venue

The Marylebone Theatre states: “At the Marylebone Theatre, our goal is to produce distinctively visionary theatre, which explores and refreshes the great poetic tradition whilst boldly engaging with the pressing issues of our times. Drawing on the inspiration of theatre visionaries from Brook and Miller to Steiner and Chekhov, we aim to create performance art, which is daringly innovative and arrestingly beautiful. We place a special emphasis on intercultural creativity and the inspiration that arises from working across cultural barriers.”

SAT Conference 2025

“To write and read comes by nature”:
Imagining an alternative Shakespeare

We are pleased to announce our annual conference will be held Sunday, November 16, 2025. This year we return to the lovely Marylebone Theatre in London. The conference will be held in two parts and ticketed separately.

  • The morning will include papers, interviews, and an exciting announcement about a new SAT initiative supporting new research.

  • The afternoon will include a performance followed by Q&A of The Marlowe Papers by Ros Barber.

Fiction has always played an important role in our culture’s imaginings of Shakespeare (Shakespeare in Love; All is True; Nothing Like the Sun; Hamnet) and has worked generally to confirm the traditional historical narrative of his life and genius. Fiction has played an equally important role in our culture’s imaginings of an alternative author of the works, one which paints an entirely different picture to those more orthodox portrayals and which opens the historical narrative to much wider possibilities. This year’s conference will discuss and examine some of the most significant of these “alternative fictions” with the writers themselves introducing us to their stories. Additionally, the SAT will announce the launch of its new and exciting essay competition.

The Day

When: Sunday, November 16, 2025

Time: 10:00 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. and 2:45–5:15 p.m.

Where: The Marylebone Theatre, Rudolf Steiner House, 35 Park Road, London, NW1 6XT

Cost: Pre-lunch conference £20

Post-lunch performance £15 (must be booked separately )

The Morning Conference

Conference: 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Cost: £20

Ticketing: Morning only

Title: “To write and read comes by nature”: Imagining an alternative Shakespeare

10:00 • Introduction

10:15–11 a.m. • “Waiting for Hamnet: Where we are in the Authorship Question: A personal view” • Professor William Leahy

11:00–11:45 a.m. • “By Any Other Name”: interview with Jodi Picoult (pre-recorded).

11:45 a.m.–12:15 p.m. • Coffee break (coffee and tea provided)

12:15–12:30 p.m. • SAT Essay Competition Launch

12:30–1:30 p.m. • “Shakespeare’s Dante” • Rita Monaldi, Francesco Sorti, Theodora Sorti

1:30 p.m. • End

The Afternoon Performance

Performance: 2:45 p.m.–5:15 p.m., including Q&A

Cost: £15

Ticketing: Afternoon Only

Title: The Marlowe Papers, by Ros Barber

End • 5:15 p.m.