THE STORY: The play begins as if it were a lecture on Shakespeare, with “The Author” stepping before the audience to evoke the historical and social atmosphere of Shakespeare’s day. Excerpts from the plays and poetry are given—with interruptions from “The Professor” and others to add illuminating details. From the amusing interplay emerges a well-rounded picture of Shakespeare’s England. And a sense of deepening wonder about the “myriad-minded” author himself. Such figures as Oscar Wilde and Mark Twain make characteristic and revealing comments, but the identity of the “real” Shakespeare comes into question as voices are raised to plead the cases of Jonson, Marlowe, the Earl of Oxford and others as the true authors. Each point of view is substantiated with intriguing “facts,” and as the debate grows more absorbing so does the listener’s joy in the great body of work which has instigated it. In the end the controversy remains unresolved, but from it all comes a renewed appreciation for the glories of the words and a greater awe of the man who was its creator—call him Shakespeare or what you will.
