Oberon Shakespeare Study Group

Edward de Vere bust commissioned by True Shakespeare founder Ben August Film-maker Cheryl Eagan-Donovan of Controversy Films thanks Oberon readers for their support and announced a matching pledge from backer True Shakespeare:  Thank you so much for your continued support of NOTHING IS TRUER THAN TRUTH. We are committed to bringing the true story of Shakespeare to audiences around the world. . . .  Our sponsor True Shakespeare has offered to match new donations to NOTHING IS TRUER THAN TRUTH made on his page up to $7,500 Please join us and tell your friends to go to the Edward de Vere-Shakespeare Facebook page to make a donation now:  https://www.facebook.com/ TrueShakespeare   With just 4 hours left, for our Finishing Funds campaign to be successful, we need more backers, including Associate Producer level backers. If you have any friends or colleagues who might be interested in joining the NOTHING IS TRUER THAN TRUTH team, . . . [click on]  https://...

From British TV listings for April 23, 2012: The King & The Playwright: A Jacobean History, BBC4, 9pm  World-renowned American scholar Professor James Shapiro re-examines the work of the world's greatest playwright during the troubled first decade of King James's reign, in this new three-part documentary series.  This is not the familiar Shakespeare of the time of Elizabeth, but the dark, complex Jacobean Shakespeare, at the height of his powers in truly turbulent times. . .    http://digiguide.tv/pick-of-the-day/23+April+2012 The King & The Playwright: A Jacobean History, BBC4, 9pm   A three-parter in which US professor James Shapiro looks at the influence of King James I on Shakespeare and his plays. During this time the Bard’s output reflected the troubled and unpredictable times ushered in but this new ruler, but being promoted to a King’s Player did wonders for his bank balance and profile (much to the chagrin of present-day schoolkids acr...

Lisa Wilson, co-director with Laura Wilson Matthias of the new Shakespeare authorship documentary Last Will. & Testament , announced this week that the film will air in the United Kingdom tomorrow, April 21, 2012 at 8 p.m. on SKY Arts 2 .  Wilson said she and Matthias are negotiating US distribution and will update viewers at their website First Folio Pictures and on their new Facebook page, Last Will. & Testament .  Wilson and Matthias showed Last Will. & Testament in their American premier at the Shakespeare Authorship Research Centre conference in Portland, Oregon on April 14, 2012. Wilson said: "Thanks to all who attended the Portland screening for your enthusiastic response and lively discussion!  Special thanks to Daniel Wright, Al Austin, James Gaynor, Dominic Toulouse, Earl Showerman and our great panel of contributors:  Hank Whittemore, Roger Stritmatter, Laura Wilson Matthias, Bill Boyle, and Michael Delahoyde." Oberon chairperson Richa...

Cheryl Eagan-Donovan at Shakespeare Authorship Studies conference April 12, 2012 Director Cheryl Eagan-Donovan reports on her film, Nothing Is Truer Than Truth : I wanted to let your group know about my new Kickstarter campaign to raise [$25,000]  finishing funds for my film Nothing Is Truer Than Truth . I screened an  excerpt from the film at the Concordia [Shakespeare Authorship Studies] Conference [on April 13, 2012]. . . .  The total budget for the film is less than one million dollars, and we are working toward festival a debut in 2012. . . .   Funding received to date has been generously provided by individual donors and by a grant from Shakespeare Fellowship Foundation. For more information about the film, go to:  http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2027553076/nothing-is-truer-than-truth-finishing-funds?ref=email or www.controversyfilms.com . From Eagan-Donovan's press release on the new fundraising campaign: Director Cheryl Eagan-Donovan...

During the just-concluded 16th Annual Shakespeare Authorship Studies Conference at Concordia University in Portland, Oregon (which I hope to describe in an upcoming post) I had the opportunity to see a very unusual production of Shake-Speare's Sonnets in Portland (Cheryl Eagan-Donovan, another conference attendee) went along with me). Note that this was definitely NOT part of the Conference; we went on our own after the Conference events were finished for the day. There were only two other people in the audience with us. I am curious as to what they thought of the performance. The production was very "avant-garde" (a term I got from Cheryl; I would have said "incomprehensible"). It was done (as you may be able to see in the above advertising poster) by the Fuse Theatre Ensemble at the Q Center in Portland. This is the community center for the Gay and Lesbian community in Portland and is quite a nice place. The intent of the production was to show how the Sonnets...

Students at Shakespeare authorship seminar at York University April 7, 2012 Richard Joyrich, MD gave an excellent overview of “Shakespeare: The Authorship Question” seminar hosted by Professor Don Rubin at York University on April 7, 2012 in his article, “York University Tackles the Authorship Question” . The seminar was planned and executed by students under Rubin’s direction as the culmination of their participation in his Shakespeare authorship course held during the winter semester. “Two years ago I suggested we offer a course and got the usual laughter,” Rubin said. “A friend tried to stop me from making a fool of myself. After debate and stubbornness on my part, I offered the course. We cut off the class enrollment at 30 members, and 26 students finished. I thank my students; they were the primary researchers. My goal is to make them all understand just how odd the connections are between the author and Shaksper.” His success was demonstrated during the culminat...

Patricia Keeney reading "Shakespeare in Space" York. U. April 7, 2012 Poet Patricia Keeney read her poem "Shakespeare in Space" at the York University seminar titled "Shakespeare: The Authorship Question" held April 7, 2012 in Toronto, Canada. Keeney is professor of English and creative writing at the university and is married to conference organizer Don Rubin. Together they attended the 2009 SF/SOS Shakespeare authorship conference held in Houston where Keeney was inspired to compose "Shakespeare in Space". Keeney said: What inspired the poem is contained in the little headnote under the title. That first (for me) conference in Houston with the Oxfordians was a revelation. Combined with our tour of the space centre, it gave me two whole sets of languages with which to express what I think is really a call to take risks in our thinking, especially in academia which should be all about discovery and exploration, intelligent adventure! ...

Lamberto Tassinari Christopher Innes, David Prosser, Don Rubin, Michel Vais, Keir Cutler, Mark Anderson This past weekend Linda Theil and I represented Oberon at an Authorship Conference at York University in Toronto. This conference was organized by Professor Donald Rubin of the Theatre Department at York University as a culmination of a semester long seminar he taught at that university over the winter (more on this course in a later post). The conference was very enjoyable. Don Rubin was an excellent host and I was glad to meet him again (he had been at the Joint SOS/SF conferences in Houston and Washington). The conference began at 11:00 on Saturday with some opening remarks by Professor Rubin, in which he described how he became interested in the Authorship Question after reading Mark Anderson’s Shakespeare By Another Name and how he was very happy to have taught a course on the subject (over some objections by fellow faculty members at the University). Many, if...