Oberon Shakespeare Study Group

Actor and poet Alain English by Linda Theil The Central London Debating Society will host a debate on the Shakespeare authorship question at 7:30 p.m. April 30, 2014 at the The Olde Cock Tavern Pub, 22 Fleet Street, London. The event is being organized by London-based actor and poet, Alain English , who is an associate of the society. English said: This will be an open panel debate with the motion "Does the Shakespeare Authorship Question Matter?". All the speakers will talk for five minutes before taking questions from the floor. The Central London Debating Society, of which I am a member, is cautious about approaching this subject matter having never really done so before but I am hoping if it is successful it will pave the way for a proper debate on the matter. We are looking for an extra speaker on the Stratfordian side just to balance things out a little but if not I will speak myself in addition to Alan Nelson, Ros Barber and William Leahy and I will intro...

While the public waits for Sony to approve release of “ The Shakespeare Authorship Debate with Roland Emmerich”  video recorded live at the  English-Speaking Union (ESU) in London   on June 6, 2011, interested readers may read  Stanley Wells’  and  Paul Edmondson’s  debate speeches on the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust’s site, Blogging Shakespeare. Shakespeare Birthplace Trust   chairman Professor Stanley Wells CBE and trust education director Rev. Dr. Paul Edmondson along with University of London professor  Michael Dobson formed the Stratfordian triumvirate at the ESU debate.  Anonymous  director Roland Emmerich, author Charles Beauclerk, and Dr. William Leahy who is head of the English Dept. at Brunel University where he runs the graduate program in Shakespeare authorship studies defended the anti-Stratfordian position.  The debate chairman was former head of speech and debate at ESU, James Probert, who  c...

The Shakespeare Authorship Debate with Roland Emmerich at the English-Speaking Union (ESU) in London will be streamed live on the ESU website   beginning at 7:30 p.m. tonight, according to ESU events manager, Susan Conway. (2:30 p.m. EST, DST in USA) Conway said 120 people will be in attendance and 20 names are on a waiting list for the program featuring Anonymous director Roland Emmerich, Shakespeare Birthplace Trust chairman Stanley Wells, trust education director Paul Edmondson, and Brunel University School of Arts head William Leahy  who will debate the Shakespeare Authorship question. According to the ESU website the motion for debate is: "This House Believes that William Shakespeare of Stratford-Upon-Avon wrote the plays and poems attributed to him." The event is being held in conjunction with Sony Pictures, the ESU and the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust at the ESU headquarters at Dartmouth House in London, UK. The event will begin with a reception at 7 p.m. ...

The  Shakespearean Authorship Trust  -- headed by chairman Mark Rylance -- in collaboration with  Brunel University  will hold a one-day conference at Shakespeare's Globe in London from 11 a.m. go 6 p.m. Sunday, November 28, 2010. The topic of the gathering is  "Shakinomics: Building bridges in Shakespeare studies" . The group defines  Shakinomics   as:  making new connections in Shakespeare studies with particular reference to the cultural capital of Shakespeare; the Shakespeare industry, heritage, tourism, authority, and authorship issues. The bringing together of and mutual respect for knowledge produced by academics, independent scholars, actors, directors, film makers, biographers, and creative writers in the field of Shakespeare studies. Brunel's Dr. William Leahy will host guest speakers: Prof. Willy Maley of Glasgow University  Dr. Sean Gaston of Brunel University Prof. William Rubenstein of Aberwstwyth University Charles Beauc...

University of Warwick doctoral researcher Peter Kirwan posted a commentary about a new book edited by William Leahy ,  Shakespeare and his Authors: Critical Perspectives on the Authorship Question ,  on his Shakespeare Apocrapha blog dated April 1, 2010 . Before offering his insights on Leahy’s collection of essays, Kirwan made this statement of his viewpoint regarding two key issues in the Shakespeare authorship scrum: 1) That academic institutions - and English Literature departments in particular - are deliberately and systematically dedicated to the silencing (as opposed to answering) of anti-Stratfordians, or in fact anyone who expresses doubt. This is something I'm very happy to concede. The book collates some shockingly extreme and offensive language applied to anti-Stratfordians that compares them to Holocaust deniers or Creationists. The violence of the academy towards anti-Stratfordians, to my mind, is ill-judged, unprofessional and very troublesome. There is noth...