"Jeff Smith's Theater Essay 'Mind and Hand Together' goes on and on about 'how did Shakespeare do it? How did the author of King Lear...compose two plays a year for almost two decades?' with out even the mention of the on going obvious?

Fact: The first 'Shakespearian Plays' were documented years after the actor's/ director's/ publicist's death.

Fact: There is very very little original first hand documentation. The vast majority of the 'works' were recreated from memory years later.

Fact: At a time [the Age of Expoloration/ the Renascence where the biggest geopolitical story, the proof of a round globe verses a flat map: North and South America, the 'Shakespeare Works' only mention the New World twice. En toto!

Fact: William Shakespeare was a grade school drop out, and poorly read. Yes, Bill Gates is a Harvard drop out. Yes, my personal hero, Bucky 'Geodesic Dome' Fuller, was a two time Harvard drop out. Yes, Einstein was a mid level clerk in the Swiss patent office.

However: Einstein was also a PhD. As was the person whom helped him on the math side of his ponderings ---- his first wife. Italy is mentioned, by the 'British play writer' Shakespeare, almost as much as the UK.

Hmmmmmmm: Four centuries after the Age of Liz I, the debate concerning the real identity of the Bard Continues. Most of the suspect ghost writers are British college educated rebels spending banishment time in the old Roman Empire!

How did two plays a year get cranked out of the Old Globe? Maybe via the 1600s equivalent of FedEx from Italy. Maybe Billy Shakespeare was more of the conduit than the original inspiration for the 'Shakespearean Works'. But not one word from Jeff. Oh well, many would think that Reader readers deserve better.

Donald R. Lake late of UCSD Chula Vista

[email protected]

619.420.0209

Donald. You cite "facts," but when was the last time you consulted them? You say: "fact, there is very little first hand documentation." But there's tons. Read S. Schoenbaum's Documentary Life (or Nicholl's The Lodger Shakespere, which locates him with precision). You say: "fact, Shakespeare was a grade school dropout, and poorly read." Where did you get that? Where's your proof? (for his schooling, read Eccles, Shakespeare in Warwickshire) As for who wrote the plays, computers are answering that question, in favor of Shakespeare, as we speak. They've got him pinned down on stylistic, grammatical, and lexical grounds.

I'm confused about your other points. Are you saying that a drop out couldn't have written the plays? Is this yet another elitist, town versus gown take on the bumpkin who couldn't have done it? Well, Ben Jonson was the stepson of a bricklayer and he did okay for himself. Jonson was Shakespeare's arch rival, and wrote about Shakespeare's actual writing (and not always pleasantly). Years after Shakespeare died, Jonson said "I loved the man, and do honor his memory (on this side idolatry) as much as any." He isn't talking about Francis Bacon, or Edward deVere, or some vague Italian express of banished college rebels.

You'll need a better case than that. And until you make it, I'm sticking with the bumpkin from Stratford.