The theater bug bit Randallstown native Phil Setren early in life. He was acting in plays at Camp Airy and Camp Milldale before even reaching his teen years.
Then, Setren started doing theatrical work at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Baltimore before graduating from Randallstown High School in 1979. He attended the University of Maryland, College Park, where he earned a bachelor of arts degree in theater in 1983 and was selected as a senior as the theater patron scholar.
Four years later, Setren moved to London and has now directed approximately 45 plays and worked in several other theatrical roles, as well as making a television pilot.
Now 59, Setren recently spoke to Jmore about his newest play, “Marlowe’s Fate,” an off-West End production scheduled to open Nov. 2 at the White Bear Theatre in London.
Jmore: How did you get involved in theater?
Setren: I got interested in drama from JCC theater. I would also say it was through watching refugees play cards. My grandparents were Holocaust survivors and they’d have card parties and speak in different languages. The faces of the people were a study of expression. I wanted to know faces people made when they held certain emotions.
Now, I have cousins who’ve written books on the Holocaust [and] the horror of it all.
When did you start acting?
I started doing it at age 9 or 10 at Camp Airy and Camp Milldale. They’d be small plays, and then I remember being in a small play called ‘Cindy’ at the JCC, like a Jewish Cinderella. I also did ‘Milk and Honey’ which was a large play.
I did the first show at the [Owings Mills] JCC called ‘Bye Bye Birdie.’ I was Birdie. I went to Maryland and got a bachelor’s degree in theater. I learned how to direct and produce plays. I started in the downtown D.C. theaters, but within three years I immigrated to London, which was a dream of mine because of the amount of modern and classic theater there. I’m also a playwright.
What was the transition like?
I was a struggling artist, but I directed four or five plays a year in small and mid-size theaters. I wasn’t getting small and national tours right away. I loved the history and was fascinated by the classical history … so many of the playwrights that I studied.
In the early ‘90s, I started directing national tours of new plays, and that was a dream come true. I supported my work by teaching in colleges and universities. So in my theater practice, I learned a lot in London.
It takes a lot of time to prove your dedication to the theater in London. They want to know that you’re dedicated to the craft. I raised money to develop modern playwrights from around the world. I did that annually, a London festival. Annually as the artistic director of London New Play Festival, we’d have weekly readings and judge if something was suitable for production.
What’s ‘Marlowe’s Fate’ about?
I am uncovering a historical inaccuracy. The truth is that [English playwright] Christopher Marlowe is actually the writer of William Shakespeare’s plays in the late 1500s, as well as the sonnets usually credited to Shakespeare. This show presents the proof.
So I guess I’m a director on a ‘sleuth mission,’ poring through the history to discover what was really going on. Over the years, this story has been told but not to this depth. We even reveal who the ‘Dark Lady’ in Shakespeare really is in this play.
How long have you been working on this project?
I’ve been working on it for about two years. It’s been pushed back three times because of COVID. That’s just because London keeps locking down and all of the theaters were closed.
The first run will run for four weeks. And then from there, we’re hoping to go touring and come back into town in a larger theatre. I’m the director and one of the associate producers.
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