Oberon Up North 2017 -- the Interlochen authorship symposium

Image of Marshall Fredericks' sculpture "Two Bears" at Interlochen Center for the Arts, photo by AJ Theil

by Linda Theil

Oberons returned to the happy scene of former visits when we attended the "Shakespeare Authorship Symposium" at Interlochen Center for the Arts on April 22, 2017.

Interlochen theater-arts instructor, David Montee, PhD, welcomes attendees at the "Shakespeare Authorship Symposium" held in the Harvey Theater on the campus of Interlochen Center for the Arts on April 22, 2017.

Interlochen theater-arts instructor, David Montee, PhD, organized the event to supplement his student production of Cardenio by William Shakespare and John Fletcher that was presented this weekend at Interlochen.

Oberon chair Richard Joyrich, MD, delivers presentation at Interlochen "Shakespeare Authorship Symposium"April 22, 2017.

At the seminar, Oberon chair Richard Joyrich, MD, delivered an overview of the authorship question featuring John Shahan's "Declaration of Reasonable Doubt about the Identity of William Shakespeare" from the Shakespeare Authorship Coalition. Oberons Rosey Hunter, Sharon Hunter, Linda Theil, and Alisa Theil, attended to support Joyrich's endeavor.

Sharon Hunter and Rosey Hunter attended Interlochen "Shakespeare Authorship Symposium" April 22, 2017.

The symposium was held at Interlochen's Harvey Theater where over 150 Interlochen students, teachers, and interested locals attended the event.

Sabrina Feldman, PhD, presented at Interlochen's "Shakespeare Authorship Symposium" April 22, 2017.

Sabrina Feldman, PhD, author of The Apocryphal Shakespeare and Thomas Sackville and the Shakespearean Glass Slipper, traveled from Pasadena, CA -- where she is manager of the Planetary Science Instrument Development Office at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory -- to present information about the Shakespeare apocrypha and her proposed candidate for the authorship, Thomas Sackville.

Scott Harman presented at Interlochen's "Shakespeare Authorship Symposium" April 22, 2017.

Teacher, actor and scholar Scott Harman, ably presented the case for the traditional Stratfordian candidate.

Retired Interlochen Center for the Arts research manager, Gordon Berg,
lunches with Oberons at the Interlochen cafeteria April 22, 2017.

Also in attendance at the symposium was beloved Oberon friend, Gordon Berg, now retired from his position as research manager at Interlochen Center for the Arts from 2007 to 2015. Berg was a colleague of Oberon members Tom and Joy Townsend and Mara Radzvickas with whom he worked at the advertising agency BBDO Detroit. He hosted us Oberons at a memorable visit to Interlochen in June, 2009 -- see "Oberon Up North 2009 -- Day 1" on the Oberon weblog.

Berg resides nearby in Traverse City where he recently received his certification as a volunteer with Hospice of Michigan. He uses his musical skills on the guitar and banjo in his volunteer service. Berg is also writing the story of his father Harry Berg's experience as an eight-year-old caught in the Great Miami Hurricane of 1926.

It was so good to spend time with him during lunch break at the Interlochen cafeteria. He sent his greetings to absent Oberons, near and far.

Sharon Hunter, Linda Theil, Rosey Hunter, Richard Joyrich at the
Hofbrau restaurant in Interlochen MI, April 23, 2017.

Oberons also paid several return visits to the nearby Hofbrau restaurant where, upon departure on Sunday, we enjoyed the most magnificent brunch ever witnessed by mankind (including the Palm Court brunch at the Netherland Plaza in Cincinnati).

David Montee is Lear at Interlochen Shakespeare Festival beginning June 30, 2017.

We are even now planning a return to Interlochen to see David Montee as Lear in the Interlochen Shakespeare Festival beginning June 30, 2017.

What's a popp'rin' pear?

James Wheaton reported yesterday in the Jackson Citizen Patriot that the Michigan Shakespeare Festival high school tour of Romeo and Juliet was criticized for inappropriate content -- " So me take issue with sexual innuendoes in Michigan Shakespeare Festival’s High School Tour performances of ‘Romeo & Juliet’" : Western [High School] parent Rosie Crowley said she was upset when she heard students laughing about sexual content in the play afterwards. Her son didn’t attend the performance Tuesday because of another commitment, she said. “I think the theater company should have left out any references that were rated R,” Crowley said. “I would say that I’ve read Shakespeare, and what I was told from the students, I’ve never read anything that bad.” She said she objected to scenes that involved pelvic thrusting and breast touching and to a line in which Mercutio makes suggestive comments to Romeo after looking up the skirt of a female. The problem with cutting out...

Winkler lights the match

by Linda Theil When asked by an interviewer why all the experts disagree with her on the legitimacy of the Shakespeare authorship question, journalist and author Elizabeth Winkler calmly replied, "You've asked the wrong experts." * With that simple declaration Winkler exploded the topic of Shakespearean authorship forever. Anti-Stratfordians need no smoking gun, no convincing narrative, no reason who, how, when, or why because within the works lies the unassailable argument: Shakespeare's knowledge. Ask the lawyers. Ask the psychologists. Ask the librarians. Ask the historians. Ask the dramaturges. Ask the mathematicians. Ask the Greek scholars. Ask the physicists. Ask the astronomers. Ask the courtiers. Ask the bibliophiles. Ask the Italians. Ask the French. Ask the Russians. Ask the English. Ask everyone. Current academic agreement on a bevy of Shakespearean collaborators springs from an unspoken awareness of how much assistance the Stratfordian presumptive would h...

Dudley nails it to the door

Michael Dudley author of The Shakespeare Authorship Question and Philosphy: Knowledge, Rhetoric, Identity (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2023) Michael Dudley views his vocation of librarian at the University of Manitoba with dialectic rigor. "Librarianship has a duty to inform democracy," he said in Kathryn Sharpe's virtual bookclub on April 27, 2024. Dudley discussed his new book The Shakespeare Authorship Question and Philosophy: Knowledge, Rhetoric, Identity published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing last fall. Update 08/21/24 Dudley's book is also available as an ebook from Google Play . In SAQ and Philosophy Dudley uses the hammer of logic to nail his accusations against the barricaded door of the Shakespeare citadel. "The question of Shakespeare's authorship is a malformed debate practiced in an unethical fashion," Dudley said. When asked why his book is important, Dudley said: "What sets my book apart from others on the authorship quest...

Oberon Shakespeare Study Group

Search This Blog