PODCAST: Mark Rylance, Derek Jacobi Among Signers of Declaration Doubting Shakespeare's Authorship

This past Saturday, April 23rd, theatre-lovers around the globe commemorated the 400th anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare. Cultural institutions throughout the world have been organizing special performances and events during 2016, with many more yet to come.

So it made seem odd that two gentlemen of England, actors who have made careers performing Shakespeare's plays, are among those who have made public their doubt that the man they call The Bard of Avon is in fact the author, or at least the sole author, of such classics as HAMLET, ROMEO AND JULIET, KING LEAR, MACBETH and A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM.

Talking with NPR's Renee Montagne, Sir Derek Jacobi and Mark Rylance chat about their patronage of The Shakespeare Authorship Coalition, a non-profit based in California, that encourages visitors to sign its "Declaration of Reasonable Doubt About The Identity of William Shakespeare."

Questioning the authorship of Shakespeare's plays isn't something new. Mark Twain, Walt Whitman, Orson Welles and Sir John Gielgud are among those who have expressed their doubts.

As Jacobi and Rylance explain, there is very little known about the life of William Shakespeare. The coalition points to evidence that supports the view that he was a Stratford businessman who was also a theater entrepreneur and sometime minor actor in London.

The two actors point out that whoever wrote these plays required an extensive knowledge of the lifestyles of the nobility and experience traveling in foreign locales, particularly Italy, where plays like ROMEO AND JULIET and THE TAMING OF THE SHREW are set.

They note that fact that he was not honored with a burial in Westminster Abbey supports the suspicion that he may have been fronting for another author.

Listen to the podcast below and visit doubtaboutwill.org for more information.

ioio

klkl