Shakespeare

[Andy X]

I don't think it is claimed as a Shakespeare manuscript but a notebook kept by an enthusiast for the plays. It raises a lot of questions - especially since there is a dearth of critical material from the period. If it is an April Fool, the decision to broadcast the story on the second day of the month is mysterious.

Ah, I see...still the whole thing seems dodgy don't it? I suppose I'll have to watch Antiques Roadshow now.

 

[rynner2]

Ah, I see...still the whole thing seems dodgy don't it? I suppose I'll have to watch Antiques Roadshow now.

It's nearly finished. But it'll be on iPlayer soon...

 

[Andy X]

Righto. Ta!

 

[Xanatic*]

Any clues to his identity in the notebook?

 

[gellatly68]

Fuck. I've only been and gone and spelt 'reliably' wrong too.

*sigh*

and 'stationery'.

 

[JamesWhitehead]

The Baconian Heresy laid bare.

Delia Bacon has certainly had an influence! :cry:

 

[dr wu]

From the link...
"She would have died much happier if she had known that her skepticism about the Bard of Avon would, in the years after her death, gain a remarkable popularity. Her writings gained such illustrious adherents as Mark Twain, Sigmund Freud, Walt Whitman, and Henry James. Although the "Baconian theory" itself is now largely out of vogue, the whole "Shakespeare authorship" debate is still alive and well.
Modern-day literary critic James Shapiro has asserted, "Had she limited her argument to these points ["collaborative authorship" of the plays] instead of conjoining it to an argument about how Shakespeare couldn't have written them, there is little doubt that, instead of being dismissed as a crank and a madwoman, she would be hailed today as the precursor of the New Historicists, and the first to argue that the plays anticipated the political upheavals England experienced in the mid-seventeenth century."

What I have always found interesting (and I am no scholar regarding Shakespeare) is that supposedly little is known about him yet there are numerous long bios....so what is in these biographies if the facts on him are so scarce?

 

[sherbetbizarre]

I can prove that 'William Shakespeare' is buried in Westminster Abbey – scholar

William Shakespeare was in fact Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford, and is buried in Westminster Abbey, not the Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon, according to a scholar who is the grandson of the novelist Evelyn Waugh.

Alexander Waugh says he has deciphered encryptions in the title and dedication pages of Aspley’s edition of Shakespeare’s sonnets of 1609 that reveal the bard’s final resting place.

He will present his evidence at a conference at the Globe theatre in London on Sunday, where the audience will include the actors Sir Derek Jacobi and Mark Rylance, who are fellow anti-Stratfordians - long-standing doubters that Shakespeare wrote the plays and poetry that bear his name, and whose preferred authorship candidates include De Vere.

Waugh said he would show hidden geometries, grid patterns and other clues which reveal that Shakespeare’s final resting place is underneath his 1740 monument in Poets’ Corner at Westminster Abbey and that they spell out the words “Edward de Vere lies here”.

https://www.theguardian.com/culture...eare-buried-westminster-abbey-alexander-waugh

Complete with picture which makes him look slightly barking...

 

[escargot]

Complete with picture which makes him look slightly barking...

Just slightly!

 

[Xanatic*]

Hidden geometries? Will this turn into a Dan Brown thing?

 

[dr wu]

I recall the De Vere /Shakespeare thing from some years ago.....because my friend Greg met/knows Louise Roby (she was in an American tv show for a short while) ,who married one of his descendants...Earl Of Burford...and he went around speaking about the Shakespeare connection. I actually spoke to her on the phone once when Greg was at my house years ago.. and she mentioned it in passing.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_Robey
"In 1993, Robey began dating Charles Beauclerk, Earl of Burford. The two met after Beauclerk gave a lecture about one of his relatives, Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, who is one of several authors named in the Shakespeare authorship question. The couple married on 29 December 1994 at St. Winifreds Church in Manaton. At the time of the marriage, Robey was pregnant with the couple's child. Their son James was born in Boston in 1995. The couple lived in Ipswich and Hadleigh, Suffolk before divorcing in 2001."

 

[Tribble]

You have to watch out for those DeVeres...

 

[Rosebud]

You have to watch out for those DeVeres...

Good grief, he's accosted Loquaciousness! The Bounder.

 

[CuriousIdent]

Hidden geometries? Will this turn into a Dan Brown thing?

If it was a Dan Brown thing you'd spend days checking out lots of different locations, with secret signs all pointing to one final location. A location which bore a blatantly obvious name, like 'Chateau de Bill Shakespeare,' which you could have just done a google search for in the first place and gotten the same result.

 

[Kingsize Wombat]

Plagiarism Software Unveils a New Source for 11 of Shakespeare’s Plays

For years scholars have debated what inspired William Shakespeare’s writings. Now, with the help of software typically used by professors to nab cheating students, two writers have discovered an unpublished manuscript they believe the Bard of Avon consulted to write “King Lear,” “Macbeth,” “Richard III,” “Henry V” and seven other plays.

The news has caused Shakespeareans to sit up and take notice.

“If it proves to be what they say it is, it is a once-in-a-generation — or several generations — find,” said Michael Witmore, director of the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington.

The findings were made by Dennis McCarthy and June Schlueter, who describe them in a book to be published next week by the academic press D. S. Brewer and the British Library. The authors are not suggesting that Shakespeare plagiarized but rather that he read and was inspired by a manuscript titled “A Brief Discourse of Rebellion and Rebels,” written in the late 1500s by George North, a minor figure in the court of Queen Elizabeth, who served as an ambassador to Sweden.

In reviewing the book before it was published, David Bevington, professor emeritus in the humanities at the University of Chicago and editor of “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (7th Edition),” called it “a revelation” for the sheer number of correlations with the plays, eclipsed only by the chronicles of Holinshed and Hall and Plutarch’s “Lives.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/07/...pics&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version

 

[ramonmercado]

‘We have seen better days.’ But we've still got Bill. The Bard and The Stage in Times of Plague.

5 Shakespeare Scholars on the Past, Present, and Future of Theater Amid COVID-19

In Honor of the Bard's 456th Birthday

It’s strange to think that on the day we began contemplating a roundtable to mark William Shakespeare’s 456th birthday, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo created a containment zone in the city of New Rochelle, formerly the epicenter of the state’s coronavirus outbreak. We were on the eve of the pandemic declaration and approaching the day Broadway would go dark for the first time since 9/11. It became apparent that just as the death toll would rise, so too would there be consequences for the social and cultural fabrics that bind us to one another.

Briefly, the prospect of a conversation centered on the Bard seemed, at best, like a convenient escape. But the following discussion, between five scholars who have devoted their careers situating Shakespeare alongside issues of performance, education, identity, partisanship and more, feels uniquely primed to our moment. It is an essential guide to the possible futures of our collective engagement with theater.

Scott Newstok (author of How to Think Like Shakespeare) moderated this discussion with Emma Smith (This is Shakespeare), James Shapiro (Shakespeare in a Divided America), Jeffrey Wilson (Shakespeare and Trump), and Vanessa Corredera, who is currently at work on a book about adaptations of Othello. I hope you gain as much from their vibrant dialogue as I did.

–Aaron Robertson, Assistant Editor

Scott Newstok: I suppose we have to start with our inescapable moment: social distancing policies have led to cancellations of public gatherings, and we’re now all teaching remotely. Artistic companies have gone dark; some worry whether they can survive the coming months.

Are there any precedents for this fraught moment in theater history—whether in the UK, the United States, or elsewhere?

James Shapiro: If plague closures in Elizabethan and Jacobean England hold any lessons for us, it’s that theater is precarious, actors and companies are vulnerable. Many wonderful companies will go under, as talented ones did in Shakespeare’s day. Airlines are sure to get a bailout; I doubt that theaters will, though they will need it just as badly.

Jeffrey Wilson: English theaters closed due to plague outbreaks between 1592 and 1594. So Shakespeare, as he was launching a career in drama, took some time to write poetry. That poetry was very dramatic, and his later drama very poetic. ...

https://lithub.com/5-shakespeare-scholars-on-the-past-present-and-future-of-theater-amid-covid-19/

 

[dr wu]

I enjoyed this piece from The Guardian in 2010.
https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2010/mar/14/who-wrote-shakespeare-james-shapiro

"Later generations went further. There was such an unbridgeable chasm between the complex brilliance of the plays and what they reveal about their author's education and experience, on the one hand, and the bare facts of Shakespeare's life, on the other, that a better explanation than "genius" had to be found. Unquestionably, said the "anti-Stratfordians", as they came to be known, the recorded life of the man called Shakespeare could not possibly yield the astonishing universality and dazzling invention of the canon.
They had a point. All we know for certain is that Shaxpere, Shaxberd, or Shakespear, was born in Stratford in 1564, that he was an actor whose name is printed, with the names of his fellow actors, in the collected edition of his plays in 1623. We know that he married Anne Hathaway, and died in 1616, according to legend, on his birthday, St George's Day. The so-called "Stratfordian" case for Shakespeare rests on these, and a few other facts, but basically, that's it."

 

[Tribble]

Happy Shakespeare Day!

 

[dr wu]

 

[ramonmercado]

Ophelia (2018): Hamlet from Ophelia's perspective. Many gaps are filled in, mainly be extrapolating from hints in the play's text. Ophelia's (Daisy Ridley) struggles as a commoner who becomes a lady in waiting to Queen Gertrude (Naomi Watts) are dealt with in detail. Some scenes in Hamlet are reinterpreted as the very subtext of the play is used to suggest new meanings. Ophelia is given agency to rise above the plotting. Her madness and indeed Hamlet's is called into question. The witch in the wood who provides potions and poisons is fully fleshed out along with her back story. Hamlet (George MacKay) plays a secondary but important role with Ophelia as the main protagonist. Directed by Claire McCarthy from a screenplay by Semi Chellas (based both on Hamlet and the novel Ophelia by Lisa Klein). 8/10. On Netflix.

 

[hunck]

[Probable] Remains of earliest purpose-built playhouse in Britain unearthed in Whitechapel

From Shakespearian era..

The Red Lion is thought to have been built around 1567 and probably played host to travelling groups of players. Its precise location has been the subject of conjecture and debate for a number of years, but archaeologists are as certain as they can be that they have found its remains

The Red Lion playhouse was created by John Brayne, who nine years later went on to construct the Theatre in Shoreditch with James Burbage, the father of the Elizabethan actor Richard Burbage. The Theatre was the first permanent home for acting troupes and staged plays by Shakespeare in 1590. After a dispute it was dismantled and its timbers used in the construction of the more famous Globe on Bankside.

Before the Globe and the Theatre, there was the Red Lion, which was in effect a prototype, said White.

All that is known of the Red Lion comes from two lawsuits describing timber scaffolds or galleries around the stage. The stage measured 40ft (12.2 metres) north to south by 30ft (9.1 metres) east to west, at a height of 5ft (1.5 metres).

White recalled the mounting excitement when they realised they were discovering evidence of just such a structure. “We started finding timbers and then uncovered this whole structure. It was very exciting.”

The playhouse structure was part of a complex that included the Red Lion Inn. Among other discoveries are probable beer cellars as well as beakers, drinking glasses and tankards.

The team also found bone groups of dogs whose teeth had been filed down. That and other evidence suggests the playhouse was reused as a baiting pit in the 17th century

17th-century tavern mug with a badge of King Charles II found at the dig

 

[Victory]

Thanks @hunck

Red Lion looks to be the earliest Shakespearean era purpose built theatre so far found, though it is claimed The Boar's Head in Whitechapel had plays performed in an open air space nearby in 1567 when Shakespeare was aged 3.

Here is a map showing where the Red Lion was - what is now 85 Stepney Way.

 

[Tempest63]

Thanks @hunck

Red Lion looks to be the earliest Shakespearean era purpose built theatre so far found, though it is claimed The Boar's Head in Whitechapel had plays performed in an open air space nearby in 1567 when Shakespeare was aged 3.

Here is a map showing where the Red Lion was - what is now 85 Stepney Way.


View attachment 27090

I thought the earliest Shakespearian theatre was off curtain road behind Liverpool Street. I worked on “The Stage” project for a short time a couple of years back.

https://www.galliardhomes.com/the-s...MIie_vyIT46QIVhrTtCh3eNg2OEAAYASAAEgJ5R_D_BwE

 

[Tribble]

I thought the earliest Shakespearian theatre was off curtain road behind Liverpool Street. I worked on “The Stage” project for a short time a couple of years back.

A compilation of dates from Wiki :

The Boar's Head Theatre was an inn-yard theatre in the Whitechapel area of London from 1598 to around 1616.
Prior to 1598, the Boar's Head was simply an inn and did not include any formal playing space. However, it was being used as an extempore venue for plays at least as early as 1557

The Red Lion was an Elizabethan playhouse located in Whitechapel (part of the modern Borough of Tower Hamlets), just outside the City of London on the east side. Built in 1567 for John Brayne, citizen and Grocer, this was the first known attempt to provide a purpose-built playhouse in London for the many Tudor age touring theatrical companies, and was short-lived

The Curtain Theatre was an Elizabethan playhouse located in Hewett Street, Shoreditch (within the modern London Borough of Hackney), just outside the City of London. It opened in 1577, and continued staging plays until 1624.

The Globe Theatre was a theatre in London associated with William Shakespeare. It was built in 1599 by Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, on land owned by Thomas Brend and inherited by his son, Nicholas Brend and grandson Sir Matthew Brend, and was destroyed by fire on 29 June 1613.

So summary of timeline :

1557 Boar's Head, unofficial venue
1564 Willy Shakes-his-Spear born
1567 Red Lion built, first official playhouse
1577 Curtain Theatre
1598 Boar's Head goes legit
1599 Globe Theatre

 

[Victory]

@hunck @Tribble

Yes I wrote "Shakespearean era" theatre, because The Boars Head was in use as a theatre when Shakespeare was a child.
The plays were in the open air, outside the inn itself, but associated with it, so I regard it as a legitimate venue.
It was in 1598 that a structure was built there for plays.

Also deserving of a mention is Burbage's "The Theatre" in Shoreditch- opened 1576, so pre dating The Curtain by a year.
The Theatre closed 1598.



So - in London, outside of London in the Liberties to the East, and in Southwark:

Boar's Head 1557 (1598)
Red Lion - 1567
The Theatre - 1576
The Curtain - 1577
Newington Butts Theatre - 1580
The Rose 1587
The Globe - 1599

Oldest known theatre in London might be the ampitheatre under The Guildhall - could be 1900 years old.

https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/thi...lleries/Pages/londons-roman-amphitheatre.aspx

 

[Tempest63]

Oldest known theatre in London might be the ampitheatre under The Guildhall

I worked on the Guildhall as well, only on some restoration and remodelling of the modern side. Not the original development!

 

[Tempest63]

The Curtain Theatre is first recording as having opened its doors in 1577. It was located in Shoreditch, east London, an area that can lay claim to being the birthplace of modern theatre. Audiences flocked to the Curtain Theatre to enjoy theatrical performances and other entertainments until the 1620s, with a small break in the late 16th century as plague gripped the capital.
Historical records reveal little about the Curtain Theatre, and in particular about its construction, however like other London theatres at this time, it is thought to have been a timber building with three tiers of galleries that surrounded an open central yard, where audiences stood. According to an account from a Swiss theatregoer, it cost one penny to stand in the yard, two pennies to sit in the galleries, three pennies to sit in the galleries with a cushion, and six pennies for a seat in a box.
William Shakespeare’s acting troupe, The Lord Chamberlain’s Men, used the Curtain Theatre as their base from 1597-1599. In that time it is believed that Henry V debuted at the Curtain and that other famous plays were performed there, including Romeo and Juliet and Every Man in His Humour that starred Shakespeare himself.
As The Globe and other theatres opened on Bankside, the Shoreditch playhouses went out of use. By the 1630s the Curtain Theatre had been converted into tenements.

 

[Tempest63]

My two overriding memories of the The Stage Development Project were looking over the piling rigs and the groundwork’s to see two observers watching the spoil, one was from MOLAS and the other a former Royal Engineer working for a UXO specialist.

The second was several months after Christmas I was wondering what happened to a luxury hamper that was a gift from a contractor. I asked my team and we eventually found the “carcass” of the Hamper secreted under the archaeologists desk with a couple of stale biscuits lying abandoned in the bottom.

 

[Comfortably Numb]

Edition of Shakespeare's last play found in Scots college in Spain

BBC Scotland
19 September, 2020

A rare edition of Shakespeare's last play has been found in a Scottish Catholic college in Spain.

The Two Noble Kinsmen, written by Shakespeare with John Fletcher, was found by a researcher investigating the work of the Scots economist Adam Smith.

The 1634 printing could be the oldest Shakespearean work in the country.

In the 17th Century the seminary in Madrid was an important source of English literature for Spanish intellectuals.

The Two Noble Kinsmen was included in a volume made up of several English plays printed from 1630 to 1635.

Dr John Stone, of the University of Barcelona, said he found it among old books in the library of the Real Colegio de Escoceses - Royal Scots College (RSC) -which is now in Salamanca.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/uk-scotland-54209767

 

[Lb8535]

Edition of Shakespeare's last play found in Scots college in Spain

BBC Scotland
19 September, 2020

A rare edition of Shakespeare's last play has been found in a Scottish Catholic college in Spain.

The Two Noble Kinsmen, written by Shakespeare with John Fletcher, was found by a researcher investigating the work of the Scots economist Adam Smith.

The 1634 printing could be the oldest Shakespearean work in the country.

In the 17th Century the seminary in Madrid was an important source of English literature for Spanish intellectuals.

The Two Noble Kinsmen was included in a volume made up of several English plays printed from 1630 to 1635.

Dr John Stone, of the University of Barcelona, said he found it among old books in the library of the Real Colegio de Escoceses - Royal Scots College (RSC) -which is now in Salamanca.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/uk-scotland-54209767

And Shakespeare came from a secretly Catholic family although as an adult he showed no interest in the religious wars of the period, so there may be more going on.