Stage Door News
Stage Door News
A panel of some of the country’s top legal minds were unanimously inconclusive Saturday on the controversial and hotly debated issue of whether William Shakespeare actually wrote the plays attributed to him.
When the arguments were heard, the facts sifted and the evidence weighed at the mock trial on the Stratford Festival stage, Supreme Court of Canada Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin and her fellow judges each cited a lack of hard evidence to refute the claim that “the man from Stratford” was the principal author of the canon.
“Certainty is an illusion, and repose is not the destiny of man,” said McLachlin, paraphrasing Oliver Wendell Holmes in her concluding remarks. “Nor, sadly it seems, of women.”
It was a fitting summary for an entertaining battle of wits between lawyers Guy Pratte, counsel for the Earl of Oxford, and Sheila Block, representing Shakespeare, that seemed destined from the beginning not to result in a definitive ruling.
Still, Pratte was forceful in his cross-examination of the Bard (who bore a striking resemblance to Festival artistic director Antoni Cimolino), questioning everything from his upbringing and education to his hairstyle, and even the way in which his name was spelled.
He pointed out that, over the years, his signature has appeared in several different forms, with variations on the generally accepted spelling listed on the First Folio.
“Your time period seems to be obsessed with spelling,” said Shakespeare (Cimolino). “Whatever happened to creativity?”
Pratte questioned how a glover’s son, who never attended university and wasn’t well-travelled, could have such a rich knowledge of the world reflected in the plays.
He asked why no manuscripts in his name exist, wondered about collaborations with other writers and highlighted the differences in Shakespeare’s likeness portrayed on engravings and images.
Perhaps feeling the heat from Pratte’s line of questioning, Shakespeare turned to his lawyer at one point and said, “knock him dead, Sheila.”
Block, in her submissions, noted that rival dramatist Ben Jonson, a contemporary of Shakespeare’s, acknowledged him and his work, and even wrote a memorial poem after Shakespeare died, calling him “Sweet Swan of Avon.”
She cited several links between his plays and his life, and argued that his humble background and lack of world travel didn’t limit his imagination.
“Frank Herbert never went to Dune,” she said. “And Tolkien never went to Middle Earth.”
Shakespeare’s words still speak to us more than 400 years later, she noted, and he should be allowed to rest in peace.
“And no one should take his identity or legacy away from him,” added Block.
Pratte countered that while it may be “uncomfortable” for some to question the authorship of Shakespeare’s plays, particular in a place dedicated to his works, it’s a necessary exercise.
“Courts of law, like the arts and the theatre, exist to put our most profound convictions about facts and reality – whether those should be religion, historical facts, scientific facts – on trial, to question and reassess our preconceptions,” he said.
With such meagre evidence connecting Shakespeare the man with the plays and poems attributed to him, it’s difficult to conclude with any conviction that he is the author.
That sense of uncertainty was reflected in the comments from the panel of judges, all of whom reserved a decision.
Patricia Jackson, a partner at the firm Torys LLP, said it would be “unfair” for the court to render one, given the lack of evidence and no testimony from the Earl of Oxford.
She also noted that in Ontario, there’s a 15-year limitation period for court proceedings.
“I think this case is over 300 years too late,” said Jackson.
Ontario Court of Appeal judge Robert Sharpe also reserved judgement, but praised the legal theatre that played out Saturday.
“We have witnessed here today the high drama of adversarial justice, the clash of opposing views laced with eloquence, wit and humour,” he said.
Judge Colm Feore, who was to play Shakespeare’s King Lear on the same stage that afternoon, admitted to being a bit “prejudiced” when it comes to the authorship debate.
He pointed out that Shakespeare himself was not concerned with being recognized as a writer.
“He was in it, as many of us are, for the money,” said Feore, drawing a burst of laughter from the crowd.
Ontario Court of Appeal judge Eileen Gillese suggested that the real question to be examined is “what’s in a name?”
“Would Shakespeare’s plays by any other name sound as sweet?” she asked.
McLachlin said everyone on the panel felt a “profound and heavy responsibility” with the matter, but suggested that the conclusions of her colleagues were “unhelpful.”
She characterized Pratte’s arguments as “rather dubious,” pointing out that, like Shakespeare, she grew up in a small town, with a modest education, and still went on to become the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada.
Pratte did not do enough, she concluded, to convince the court that Shakespeare did not write the plays.
“I must, like my colleagues, find that the evidence remains unclear,” said McLachlin.
She ended, appropriately enough, with a quote from Shakespeare’s As You Like It: “The little foolery that wise men have makes a great show.”
“We here today are all wise people,” said McLachlin, “and I think we have had a great show with our little foolery.”
By Mike Beitz for www.stratfordbeaconherald.com.
Photo: Antoni Cimolina as Shakespeare bows before judges including Supreme Court of Canada Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin. ©2014 Mike Beitz.
2014-10-05
Stratford: Judges reserve decision in mock trial of Shakespeare's authorship