William Shakespeare

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Author Claims Shakespeare Had Secret 'Bastard' Son

William Davenant would go on to become the poet laureate of England

(Newser) - William Shakespeare wasn't necessarily a doting husband: In his will, he famously left his wife Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children, his "second best bed." Now a new biography of the Bard of Avon suggests the playwright had a son with a married tavern mistress,...

The Bard Is Touring the US
 The Bard Is Touring the US 
Jan 5, 2016 4:03 PM CST

The Bard Is Touring the US

Shakespeare's First Folio will travel to all 50 states

(Newser) - William Shakespeare is on a US tour: Or at least his so-called First Folio—the first printed collection of all of the Bard's 36 plays—is, NPR reports. Of some 750 copies printed in 1623, seven years after his death, 233 survive, per NPR. Now, to mark the 400th...

Church Stops Clergy From Digging Up 'Shakespeare Skull'

Clergymen wanted conjecture settled once and for all

(Newser) - Like to size up the cranium that once held the brain behind Macbeth, Hamlet, and roughly 1,500 words we still use today? Well, it's bad news for you—and anyone who believes William Shakespeare's skull is lying under a small village chapel in England, the Birmingham Mail...

Shakespeare Gets a 400-Year-Old Drug Test

Scientists determine what was in tobacco pipes found in his garden

(Newser) - "To smoke or not to smoke" was not the question. Something had been smoked in the pipe bowls and stems unearthed from William Shakespeare' garden in Stratford-upon-Avon; the question was what. Researchers in South Africa now have gas chromatography mass spectrometry to thank for their answer. A piece in...

Did Science Just Discover a New Shakespeare Play?

Psych theory and text-analyzing software show 'Double Falsehood' may be Bard's

(Newser) - Did William Shakespeare pen Double Falsehood after all? Texas researchers say he probably did after comparing the play to "psychological signatures" they worked up for the Bard, Lewis Theobald (the supposed author), and Shakespeare contemporary John Fletcher. The study, published in Psychological Science , used text-analyzing software and psychological theory...

New Shakespeare Find Has Gender Switch

1623 first folio was forgotten in library for centuries

(Newser) - An incredibly rare copy of one of Shakespeare's first folios has been rediscovered after sitting forgotten in a French library for centuries—and experts say the find could reveal a lot more about the plays and the playwright. Only around 800 of the first edition of Shakespeare's plays...

Shakespeare Is Why You Hate Zits
 Shakespeare 
 Is Why You 
 Hate Zits 
study says
Jul 5, 2014 8:15 AM CDT

Shakespeare Is Why You Hate Zits

His plays are really into bad skin: researchers

(Newser) - The makers of Neutrogena may have Shakespeare to thank for their success: The influence of his work has left us grossed out by pimples and other skin conditions. So say dermatologists in a new study that notes how much his plays focus on bad skin, the Christian Science Monitor reports....

Shakespeare Play So Gory Audience Members Faint
Shakespeare Play So Gory Audience Members Faint
in case you missed it
May 4, 2014 7:07 AM CDT

Shakespeare Play So Gory Audience Members Faint

Others say they felt sick during Globe Theatre production of 'Titus Andronicus'

(Newser) - Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus is a gore-fest, and the Globe Theatre isn't pulling any punches in its revival of the play: Audience members have been fainting, as others have reported feeling sick while watching the production or not being able to sleep afterward, the Telegraph reports. The play features...

Guy's Revenge: Texting Complete Works of Shakespeare

Alleged fraudster will receive more than 29K texts

(Newser) - A man paid $133 for a PlayStation 3 on UK classifieds site Gumtree, but never received it—so he decided to get revenge on the fraudulent seller by texting him the complete works of Shakespeare. Edd Joseph, 24, discovered that it's easy for him to simply copy the text...

'Bad Handwriting' May Settle Shakespeare Mystery

Professor says it proves 'Spanish Tragedy' lines are by the Bard

(Newser) - It's been a nearly 200-year-long debate: Did William Shakespeare add 325 lines to Thomas Kyd’s The Spanish Tragedy nearly a decade after Kyd's death? None other than Samuel Taylor Coleridge raised the question in 1833, and a 2012 computer analysis seemed to lend credence to the theory....

Much to Love About Whedon&#39;s Much Ado
 Much to Love 
 About Whedon's 
 Much Ado 
movie review
Jun 7, 2013 8:30 AM CDT

Much to Love About Whedon's Much Ado

Amy Acker, Alexis Denisof star in Shakespeare comedy

(Newser) - Between filming and post-production for The Avengers, Joss Whedon took a brief break—to film another movie. The result is the tiny-budgeted Much Ado About Nothing, shot at Whedon's own house with a digital camera over 12 days. Despite, or perhaps because of, the project's simplicity, critics are...

Shakespeare a &#39;Ruthless&#39; Food Hoarder

 Shakespeare 
 a 'Ruthless' 
 Food Hoarder 
study says
Apr 2, 2013 8:14 AM CDT

Shakespeare a 'Ruthless' Food Hoarder

New study paints a picture of the Bard's darker side

(Newser) - William Shakespeare was, of course, an acclaimed playwright—but according to researchers, he was also a grain hoarder, tax evader, and all-around "ruthless" businessman. "Shakespeare the grain-hoarder has been redacted from history so that Shakespeare the creative genius could be born," say the academics in a paper...

Utah School in Tizzy Over Play's Risque Elvis Lyrics

'I'm all shook up' a little too controversial for one parent

(Newser) - A Utah parent almost got the local high school's performance of the Elvis Presley-themed musical All Shook Up canceled ... but the school got around the problem by changing such wildly controversial lyrics as, "Her lips are like a volcano that's hot." The initial decision to cancel...

Theater That Staged Shakespeare's 1st Plays Found

Curtain Theatre believed to have seen debut of 'Henry V'

(Newser) - Archaeologists say they have discovered the remains of an Elizabethan theater where some of William Shakespeare's plays were first performed. Experts from the Museum of London have uncovered a yard and gallery walls from the Curtain Theatre in Shoreditch, just east of London's business district. The Curtain opened...

Shakespeare Had Co-Author
 Shakespeare Had Co-Author 
new study
Apr 26, 2012 8:03 AM CDT

Shakespeare Had Co-Author

Thomas Middleton's literary fingerprint found on 'All's Well '

(Newser) - All's well that ... blends well? William Shakespeare worked with a co-author on All's Well That Ends Well, according to researchers who have analyzed the play line by line. The Oxford University experts say the most likely candidate for co-bard is celebrated playwright Thomas Middleton, judging from his distinctive...

Maybe It's Time to Get Over Shakespeare

Alexandra Petri wonders if the Bard should be, or not be, our literary touchstone

(Newser) - Is Shakespeare still relevant today? Before you answer, consider how many of his plays would be ruined by the addition of cellphones, writes Alexandra Petri of the Washington Post . "Soon, if we do a modern staging, we'll have to stipulate that, 'In fair Verona, where we lay...

Virtual Monkeys Nearly Done Pecking Out Shakespeare

Bard's works being randomly reproduced, 9 characters at a time

(Newser) - A computer programmer testing the old theory that monkeys randomly mashing keyboards will eventually produce the complete works of Shakespeare says his virtual monkeys are nearly done with the Bard. Jesse Anderson—who keeps a running total on his blog —calculates that, in the "largest work ever randomly"...

Did Shakespeare Get High?
 Did Shakespeare Smoke Pot? 
literary drug tests
Jun 29, 2011 5:10 AM CDT

Did Shakespeare Smoke Pot?

Pot gave bard a creative boost, says scientist who wants to open grave

(Newser) - An academic is willing to risk falling afoul of a 400-year-old curse to find out whether William Shakespeare was a pothead. South African anthropologist Francis Thackeray, who discovered marijuana and cocaine residue in pipe fragments found in the bard's garden, believed pot gave Shakespeare a creative boost. He is...

Actor's Face Slashed During Hamlet
Actor's Face Slashed
During Hamlet
Mar 23, 2011 3:42 AM CDT

Actor's Face Slashed During Hamlet

Outrageous stroke of ill fortune halts Irish production

(Newser) - An Irish production of Hamlet was cut short in the second half when the star was slashed under the eye and collapsed during the play's famous sword-fighting scene. Director Alan Stanford took to the stage to tell the audience that the blood was real and the show couldn't go on....

Shakespeare Needed Paywalls —and We Do, Too

Piracy could've stopped great writers' careers before they began

(Newser) - The recent discovery of earthenware knobs in England—a distinctive feature of the moneyboxes used to collect admission for theaters in Shakespeare's time—prompts a reflection from author Scott Turow and Authors Guild chief Paul Aiken on the link between commerce and creative culture for the New York Times . Think...

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