Mark Twain's hilarious (1909) debunking of the myth that
William Shakespeare wrote the works of Shakespeare. Listing the handful of
established facts of Shakespeare's life, Twain ridicules the fantasy that a largely
uneducated youth could have wandered into London and, with virtually none of
the necessary skills, become the greatest author in English literature.
Keir Cutler adapted Twain's "Is Shakespeare Dead?" because he feels people should at least be aware of the case that can be made against Shakespeare from Stratford.
What is ignored by people in general, and academics in particular, is the breadth of Shakespeare's knowledge of law, philosophy, classical literature, ancient and modern history, mathematics, music, medicine, art, astronomy, military and naval terminology, English, French and Italian court life, and especially his comprehension of multiple languages. Shakespeare added hundreds of new words to the English language: all these words culled from other languages, both ancient and modern. And Shakespeare did all this without leaving a single trace of his skill? Nothing? No play, no poem, no letter in his own hand? And no mention of any writing is his long and detailed will?
Clearly there is a Shakespeare Authorship Question that can not be ignored.
WATCH BELOW -- Video embedded is selected scenes of Keir Cutler performing Mark Twain's 'IS SHAKESPEARE DEAD?' filmed at the 2003 Winnipeg Fringe Festival. "A magnificently witty performance," Winnipeg Sun. As seen on Bravo!/Canada.
