Speaks November 10th

On November 10, 2012, the Roundtable hosts a very special lecturer speaking on a very topical subject: Politics! Just four days after we find out the results of our own contentious political season, the great Louis Fantasia will speak to the politics of Renaissance England, where there may be some comparisons to be made.

“SHAKESPEARE’S POLITICS: MEN IN SHEETS!” is the name of the lecture and will be given Saturday, November 10, 2012 10:30-12:30pm at Roxbury Recreation Center, Room 101 , 471 S. Roxbury Dr.(Corner Roxbury & Olympic), Beverly Hills, CA 90212

Shakespeare’s politics – and those of his fellow Elizabethans – were informed and defined by a single, if complex and complicated, model: Rome. The Roman body politic took several forms: dictatorship, empire, republic, and each of these found its way into Elizabethan political thought. This talk will not only explore Shakespeare’s Roman plays, but will also look at the rest of the canon, where “Roman” issues manifest themselves in the Histories, Tragedies, Romances, and even the Comedies.

Louis Fantasia has produced and directed more than 150 plays and operas worldwide. Louis is currently Chair of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the New York Film Academy’s Universal Studios/Burbank campus, and Director of Shakespeare at the Huntington, the teacher training institute of the Huntington Library. In 2003, the Council of Europe in Strasbourg named the theatre collection at its library in the European Parliament in honor of Louis Fantasia, who holds both U.S. and European Union passports. His book, Instant Shakespeare: A Practical Guide for Actors, Directors and Teachers has been used worldover and his second book, Tragedy in the Age of Oprah, will be published by Scarecrow Press.

Join US!

King Richard III

You’ve probably heard the big news. The whole world is abuzz with it. Archeologists in Leicester, England think they may have found the remains of King Richard III buried deep beneath a council parking lot. Scientists searching for the grave have said “strong circumstantial evidence” points to a skeleton being the lost king. The remains show wounds to the skull and a scoliosis of the spine. The University of Leicester will now test the bones for DNA against descendants of Richard’s family. Professor Lin Foxhall, head of the university’s School of Archaeology, said: “Archaeology almost never finds named individuals – this is absolutely extraordinary.”

And it is extraordinary. If the bones turn out to be Richard’s, then a whole slew of historical questions might be clarified, and others raised: was Richard the hunchback Shakespeare made him out to be? Was his depiction of the last Plantagenet monarch part of the wider Tudor campaign to discredit the former crown? Will it change Mark Rylance’s already brilliant and nuanced interpretation of the villainous character, which opens for a very limited run at the Apollo theater on November 6. Who knows? (btw: Mark is a steadfast supporter of the Roundtable and inquiry into authorship)

Rylance as RIII

But the find does have subtle implications for the authorship question, too. History is never finished, no matter what tenured academics might like to believe. The quest for “truth” must pry open the creaky, rusted gates of convention. In a June blog we reported on the recent discovery of the remains of the Curtain theater in Shorditch. So . . . where’s the thatch? For years scholars believed the Curtain, like the globe, had a thatch roof, but the excavation showed no sign of it. Tiles perhaps. There was some evidence of tiles. This is not a game changer, of course. But it does alter what we believe about the time, AND the theater.  If the skeleton turns out to be Richard’s it is pretty solid proof that things long past and given up as lost forever — in academic terms: “settled” — can still turn up, in a parking lot no less. Let’s keep looking!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/sep/13/richard-iii-discovery-remains?newsfeed=true

Edward deVere, 17th Earl of Oxford

The eighth annual joint authorship conference of the Shakespeare Fellowship and the Shakespeare Oxford Society will convene in Pasadena, California October 18-21, 2012 at the Courtyard Pasadena Old Town by Marriott. For special conference room rates call 888.236.2427 or reserve rooms on line at: http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/ laxot-courtyard-los-angeles-pasadena-old-down/

Having the conference in Southern California is a great opportunity for local SAR members (and non-members, too) to hear and mingle with many of the finest minds in the country to engage with the Authorship question. Speakers include, Professors A.J.(Tony) Pointon, Roger Stritmatter and Don Rubin, as well as  Katherine Chiljan, Bonner Cutting, John Hamill, Helen Gordon, Jennifer Newton, and Earl Showerman. Plus screenings of Lisa Wilson’s and Laura Wilson Mathias’ documentary film, “Last Will & Testament; and the debut of Cheryl Eagan-Donovan’s Controversy Films project, “Nothing is Truer than Truth”, based on Mark Anderson’s book, “Shakespeare by Another Name.”

We might point proudly to several esteemed speakers who hearken from the Roundtable itself: John Shahan, Lance Fogan, James Ulmer, Sylvia Holmes and of course Sabrina Feldman who has recently published the stirring, “The Apocryphal William Shakespeare, Book One of A ‘Third Way’ Shakespeare Authorship Scenario”

Huntington Library

Also, the trip to the Huntington Library is not to be missed. Scheduled from 1:00-2:00 on Thursday afternoon, October 18th, the staff of the Huntington will put on display a dozen or so rare books from its collection, described as “nothing short of extraordinary.” For more details about the conference program check out websites for the Shakespeare Fellowship: http://www.shakespearefellowship.org/

And The Oxford Society at: http://www.shakespeare-oxford.com/

“Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow . . .”  is good drama”, but what you’ll want is a good seat. There’s still time to register. See you there.

Barbara Wenzel Gilfillan Crowley,
March 19, 1924 – August 13, 2012

Officer Emeritus, Advisor, Secretary and forever esteemed Roundtable benefactor, Barbara W. G. Crowley passed away on August 13, 2012. Barbara and her husband John were good friends of Ruth Lloyd Miller and at the vanguard of all aspects of the authorship question. Barbara not only helped found the Roundtable over twenty-five years ago, but has continued to advise, nurture and support its evolution. With an unbounded generosity, grace and intelligence, Barbara presided over many SAR planning sessions at “Great Oaks”, the beautiful Crowley home of 54 years. From that generosity, grace and intelligence grew many of the Roundtable’s milestone achievements. We will miss her greatly and with Sylvia Crowley Holmes, Barbara’s daughter and our wonderful Secretary, grieve her passing. 

Should friends wish, donations in Barbara’s name can be made to the charity of their choice, or the Shakespeare Authorship Roundtable.

Barbara was born March 19, 1924 to author and social scientist, S. Colum Gilfillan and Louise Wenzel Gilfillan, social worker.  Barbara was raised in Hyde Park, Chicago and attended U. High (University of Chicago Laboratory Schools), also earning her BA in Psychology at the University of Chicago in 1944.  On the first day of her first job, Barbara met John Crowley.  They were married 6 months later and spent 63 fulfilling years together until John’s death in 2007.   In 1949 they moved to California where they raised their family of 6 children.  John and Barbara maintained a partnership throughout their marriage, and Barbara played the part of First Lady of Pasadena when John was mayor for two years.  Barbara believed her biggest accomplishment in life was her children.  A loving mother, she respected their differences and encouraged them to pursue their own interests.  As they grew up, she began her second career as an attorney.  She attended Loyola Law School, where she was one of the few women in her class.  She earned her JD and went on to practice estate, trust and probate law for 25 years at the firm of Barton, Klugman & Oetting in downtown Los Angeles.  She often expressed how lucky she felt to have had two separate careers: one, raising six children, the other, as an attorney.  Before, during and well after working as a lawyer, Barbara’s sense of civic responsibility motivated her to be an active participant in her local community.  She generously gave her time and energy to many organizations including the Pasadena PTA, Descanso Gardens Guild, Westridge School, Women at Work, League of Women Voters, University of Chicago Alumni and Los Angeles Beautiful, to name a few.  But her primary interest lay in the Shakespeare authorship question.  Thrilled by this real-life mystery, she studied and championed it throughout her life.

Edward deVere, 17th Earl of Oxford

“Vero Nihil Verius” is the Latin motto emblazoned on the deVere family coat of arms. In English it translates to “Nothing is Truer Than Truth”, which is the title film producer/director Cheryl Eagan-Donovan has chosen for her new and much anticipated documentary film on Edward de Vere, Seventeenth Earl of Oxford. The film focuses on the years 1575-76, when de Vere traveled the Continent from his home base in Venice, gathering the material that many academic and lay scholars believe would become the works of Shakespeare.

The filmmakers have travelled throughout the world, but especially to Italy, and have interviewed authorship authorities with a wide and sometimes controversial spectrum of ideas about the relationship between the content of the Canon and the life of its author. Their argument is that deVere was the author and that the plays reflect very closely the events that occurred in his life.

Cheryl and her team are working around the clock to finish editing the film for a rough cut screening at the Shakespeare Fellowship SOS Joint conference in Pasadena on Saturday October 20th. But they need HELP!

The link below will take you to the “Indie Go Go” website, which is a unique funding platform that helps worthy causes like “Nothing is Truer Than Truth” find like-minded people to help produce the movie.

http://www.indiegogo.com/NOTHINGISTRUERTHANTRUTH?a=289012&i=emal

Just click on the link and see the trailer for the film. Have a look at the synopsis and the bountiful talent associated with this project. Who knows: You may find your name in the credits.

The Roundtable recently published its lecture series schedule for 2012-2013. As engaging and elucidating as last season was, the upcoming group of speakers is like our Olympic athletes: pushing the game forward, sometimes by miles, sometimes by a hundredth of a second.

Professor Jeffrey Kahan

Beginning on September 15, Professor Jeffrey Kahan examines Shakespeare and the Occult. Drawing from his forthcoming book on the subject (to be published by Palgrove), Kahan looks at Alfred Dodd’s and Percy Allen’s attempts to speak to the “spirits” of Francis Bacon and Edward DeVere, respectively. Professor Kahan has a Ph.D. from the Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham, England. He is the author of Reforming Shakespeare, The Cult of Kean and Bettymania and the Birth of Celebrity Culture, as well as several other books and numerous articles in scholarly journals. Kahan will inform, intrigue and entertain!

Louis Fantasia

Apropos of the fiery political season, Louis Fantasia – who speaks just four days after the U.S. Presidential Election – will address with his own iconic exuberance Shakespeare and Politics. Louis is an internationally  esteemed actor, director, Shakespearean scholar and teacher; not to mention longtime friend and member of SAR’s Board of Advisors. In Louis’ case, “topical” is an understatement.

Sylvia Crowley Holmes

Sylvia Crowley Holmes takes us back to the Italy of Shakespeare’s Othello. Sylvia comes from an authorship lineage of at least two generations. Her father, former Mayor of Pasadena, John Crowley and her mother, Barbara W. G. Crowley were friends of Ruth Lloyd Miller and helped found the Roundtable over twenty-five years ago. A superb artist, singer, student of all things Elizabethan and secretary of SAR, Sylvia has a rich, multi-faceted understanding of authorship issues, including the intriguing “Italian Question.” Recall with delight her live concert with Sally Mosher last season, and look forward to her eloquent thoughts in January.

Dr. Roger Stritmatter

Dr. Roger Stritmatter is at the vanguard of the movement to establish the Shakespeare authorship question as not just a respectable subject for the academy, but an essential one. As a student at the University of Massachusetts, Roger was the first Ph.D candidate allowed to complete a dissertation on authorship, focusing on Shakespeare and the Geneva Bible. Since then, Stritmatter has continued to publish brilliant original work on Shakespeare and the modern imagination, censorship and literature, authorship identification theory and the Bible as literature. He is also the general editor of Brief Chronicles, a peer reviewed journal of Shakespearean authorship studies. We eagerly anticipate Roger’s talk next June on Early Sources of the Tempest.

Members Only at “Chez Mosher”

And then there’s the splendid event scheduled at “Chez Mosher!” Sally Mosher is an artistic gift to the world, and benefactor par excellence to SAR. A composer (mostly on the harpsichord), musician, painter, designer, and esteemed lecturer on Renaissance music and culture of the 16th century, Sally also received her Juris Doctor from the USC School of Law and is a member of the California Bar. Plus she has a really cool house. For several SAR seasons, Sally has generously hosted a very special afternoon of music, high tea and conversation that would be the envy of Elizabeth herself. A Members Only event, this is worth your dues, and a lot more. Join us if you can on. March 17^th.

All SAR speaking events are FREE and Open to the Public (except the afternoon at Chez Mosher, which is MEMBERS ONLY). Of course the lectures are held locally in Beverly Hills, but we’re going to try and get as many of the talks as possible uploaded to our website, either in video or print format. If you’re in the area, please join us. But no matter what, we ask that you support the Roundtable with your membership and donations.

Mail Membership Dues to: 

Shakespeare Authorship Roundtable,

PO BOX  76,  Beverly Hills, CA 90213

Lectures are from 10:30-12:30pm

Roxbury Recreation Center, Room 101

471 S. Roxbury Dr. (Corner Roxbury & Olympic),

Beverly Hills, CA 90212

http://www.shakespeareauthorship.org

With the Olympic games ramping up in London, the Brits are also promoting their cultural achievements; including William Shakespeare. The RSC is producing the World Shakespeare Festival. As part of the festival, the Globe is staging 37 of Shakespeare’s plays performed by theatre companies from around the world, in just six weeks. And BBC 2 is running a series called “Simon Schama’s Shakespeare,” which is quite good.

Schama argues that it is impossible to understand how Shakespeare came to belong ‘to all time’ without understanding just how much he was of his time. The series does a good job of placing the author — whoever it might be — within the historical context of England’s transformation from a Medieval to Renaissance state. The most recent episode ( see link below) focuses on the birth of Elizabethan theater amidst the tempestuous years, 1580 – 1600.

In 1564, the year traditionalists  claim Shakespeare was born, London did not have a single theater. In fact no public theater had existed anywhere in Europe since the days of the Roman Empire. Yet a mere thirty years later London could boast numerous public theaters with attendance over 50,000 people a week.  The forces that brought about this surge not only in public theater but also in the human imagination are a big part of the story surrounding authorship.  The more we know about the flowering of Elizabethan theatre, the more able we are to understand the mysteries of the Bard.