Why the Film Anonymus Has Ruined My Career

Today, Dr. Fletcher asked this question in his blog "are there aspects of our profession, our field, (theatre/ performance scholars) in which the settled consensus of experts is being called into question and made to stand trial in the court of (non-expert) public opinion?"


To answer this question I first had to think about whether or not the public, the holders of public opinion, really care about anything that theatre experts have to say.  Thinking about this made me a little sad because I couldn't think of how theatre impacts public opinion. Film, sure, television, hell ya! But what do people have to say about theatre that theatre experts disagree with?  And then, like a bolt of lightning it struck me...Shakespeare.

The Immortal Bard

Shakespeare has become a topic of discussion among the public.  If you went to high school in America it is very likely that you had to read one if not several Shakespeare plays.  If you watch movies or t.v. it is very likely that you have come in contact with Shakespeare's plays or themes or likeness and; if you saw the movie Anonymus then you are aware of the conspiracy theory that Shakespeare did not write his own plays.

Full disclosure, I never saw the film because it just looked really dumb. 

I say conspiracy theory because experts in the field of theatre, that is me and the others like me, do not argue about the authorship of Shakespeares plays.  Honestly, and correct me if I am wrong hordes of theatre scholars, we don't actually care who authored the plays.  Now of course some scholars do care because authorship is important, blah blah blah, but the person behind the plays does not change the fact that the plays exist. Nor does it change the fact that there are many playwrights and plays from Shakespeare's time that don't get facetime with the general populous because of Shakespeare's presence in the cannon.

But no matter what the theatrical experts have to say, the public thrives on this controversy.  Young students think that just because it was made into a movie it has to be true.  The question of who authored Shakespeare's plays is brought up in every theatre or English class I have ever been in and I expect to have to answer that question in every theatre class I teach for the rest of my life.  It is my burden.

So there you have it J. Fletch. Shakespeare is the theatre professional's global warming.