David Montee, PhD, visits Oberon meeting March 11, 2017 at Bloomfield Twp. Library, Bloomfield Hills, MI
by Linda Theil
David Montee, PhD, visited Oberons at our March 11, 2017 meeting to discuss the "Shakespeare Authorship Symposium" that he has organized at Interlochen Center for the Arts from 11 a.m. - 7 p.m. April 22, 2017 in the Harvey Theater at Interlochen. Oberon chair Richard Joyrich, MD, will be one of three featured speakers at the symposium.
Montee and his colleagues at Interlochen organized the symposium to supplement Interlochen's student production of Gregory Doran's version of Cardenio, a lost play attributed to John Fletcher and William Shakespeare that Montee directs for presentation April 21, 22, 23, 2017. Montee said:
I think [the question of Cardenio's authorship] ties-in with the larger questions about the whole [Shakespeare] authorship question. It’s becoming kind of murky whether there is a single author in any of these plays. It's interesting to look at the authorship question particularly in light of Cardenio because obviously Cardenio is not by a single author and it brings up the subject of whether any of the plays are by a single author.Sabrina Feldman, author of Thomas Sackville and the Shakespearean Glass Slipper, will also present at the symposium, along with Scott Harman who teaches at the University of Wisconsin and at Interlochen during their summer arts camp. Oberon chair Richard Joyrich's presentation will cover the topic of whether there is reason to doubt a Stratfordian Shakespeare.
Montee said, "The strongest argument for me is how could this man [Shaksper from Stratford] not have left a single book with his name in it, or a single document signed by him [notwithstanding the signatures on his will]."
To learn more about the background of Cardenio, Montee recommends The Quest for Cardenio: Shakespeare, Fletcher, Cervantes, and the Lost Play by David Carnegie and Gary Taylor (Oxford University Press, 2014).
The public is invited to attend the April 22, 2017 "Shakespeare Authorship Symposium" at Interlochen. The cost is $25, those who wish to attend may register for the symposium online. Tickets for Cardenio -- which is running the entire weekend of April 21, 22, and 23, 2017 -- must be purchased separately, but are also available online at the same site as the symposium tickets.
Montee is the author of Translating Shakespeare: a Guide for Young Actors Smith & Kraus (2014).
Former Oberon chair, the late R. Thomas Hunter, PhD, saw Montee perform in a 2011 Interlochen production of Merchant of Venice, which he favorably reviewed here.
Montee is currently studying for his debut as King Lear, in a production that will be presented the last weekend of June and the first weekend of July at Interlochen.
We are grateful for David Montee's visit with us, and we look forward to our visit to Interlochen on the spectacular Leelanau peninsula this spring.
Oberon member Robin Browne discusses the Shakespeare authorship with Oberon guest David Montee, PhD at March 11, 2017 Oberon meeting at Bloomfield Township Library, Bloomfield Twp., MI.
Apres le Oberon, Richard Joyrich, MD, at Beau's on Telegraph in Bloomfield Hills, MI
Mara Radzvickas at Beau's on Telegraph in Bloomfield Hills, MI
Resources:
http://oberonshakespearestudygroup.blogspot.com/2017/01/joyrich-will-speak-at-interlochens.html
http://oberonshakespearestudygroup.blogspot.com/2014/11/david-montee-enlightens-young.html
http://oberonshakespearestudygroup.blogspot.com/2011/07/interlochen-surprise-merchant-of-venice.html