The Questionable Identity of Shakespeare

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The Questionable Identity of Shakespeare

Monday, October 30, 2023, 10:00-11:15 am CT

The question may be met with chagrin by traditionalists, but to some, the identity of William Shakespeare is not positively decided. Dr. Felicia Hardison Londré, Ph.D, presents a thought-provoking analysis on the Shakespeare authorship question. This free lecture program is at 10:00 am on Monday, October 30, 2023 at Grant Hall Auditorium, 5228 Charlotte St., Kansas City, MO., University of Missouri at Kansas City Campus. Metered parking is immediately south of Grant Hall.

Was it William Shaksper of Stratford-upon-Avon or Edward De Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford or some other playwright of the time? Dr. Londré delves into the sensitive question of authorship in an illustrated presentation.

Dr. Londré, Curators' Professor of Theatre at UMKC, is the honorary co-founder of the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival and was the founding secretary of the Shakespeare Theatre Association of America. In 1999, she was inducted into the College of Fellows of the American Theatre at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. Dr. Londré has held visiting professorships at Hosei University in Tokyo and at Marquette University in Milwaukee. She has lectured internationally in cities including Beijing, Nanjing, Tokyo, Osaka, Venice, Rouen, Caen, Paris (Sorbonne), Brussels, Moscow, and a lecture tour of Hungary. She began presenting lectures on the Shakespeare authorship question in 1991 and has since presented this lecture to open-minded intellectuals (and others) to audiences in Hungary, Japan, China, and many American cities.

While the English-Speaking Union does not endorse any particular position on this controversy and remains neutral on the Shakespeare authorship question, it does welcome and encourage debate on this centuries-old topic. Debate promotes critical-thinking skills so educators, students, scholars, and the general public can begin to develop their own opinions on the controversy.

"It's the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."—Aristotle (384 BC - 322 BC)

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