Light Hearted Interview with Lou Beckett
Playwright Lou Beckett shares her thoughts on the Authorship Question
Lou Beckett has authored a play titled A Rose By Any Other Name that takes on the authorship question and invites audience participation. We will be sharing more about this work in a few weeks. In the meantime, we are delighted to share her responses to our light-hearted questions, as well as the revelation that the “Q” is part of the curriculum in some Australian schools.
1: Where and when did you first become intrigued with the Shakespeare works?
We had fun at school shouting out sentences we learned while studying Macbeth. I still occasionally blurt out, “Is this a dagger which I see before me.” It was a revelation to find that Shakespeare wasn’t as stuffy as I had expected.
2: At what point did you begin to question the authorship of Shakespeare’s works?
A: I was at an RSC play with a niece visiting from Australia about ten years ago. I mentioned that I was intrigued by the authorship question, something I had only recently come across. She said it was a standard part of the curriculum at her school. I’ve been pursuing the question ever since.
3: What is your favourite Shakespearean word or phrase, and what does it mean?
“A rose by any other name would smell as sweet,” spoken by Juliet to Romeo (2.2) is the basis of my play title. It neatly denotes that regardless of who wrote the plays, they remain a magnificent body of work.
4. What is most memorable Shakespearean performance you have seen?
The performance that lingers in my mind is Simon Russell Beale playing Richard 3 in 1992 at the RSC. He created a Richard both repulsive and compelling, and he captured the character’s malicious charm.
5. What is your favourite Shakespearean insult or term of endearment?
“I do desire we be better strangers,” says Orlando to Jacques, As You Like It, 3.2.
The insult is so elegant in its construction that it takes the recipient a bit of time to figure it out. Orlando has had enough of Jacques’ cynicism following their meeting in the Forest of Arden, but in his romantic frame of mind he doesn’t stoop to rough insults.
6. Who is your favourite Shakespearean male character? Why?
As The Tempest concludes (4.1), Prospero’s comments on the transience of life and the futility of hanging onto anger and revenge seem an apt message for our times.
Our revels now are ended. These our actors,
As I foretold you, were all spirits and
Are melted into air, into thin air.
7. Who is your favourite Shakespearean female character? Why?
I keep changing my mind on who my favourite is. There are so many strong female roles to choose from: Lady Macbeth, Viola, Portia, Cleopatra, Rosalind, Desdemona, Juliet. And if you looked at other male writers and wanted to create such a list, do any other authors come to mind? I didn’t think so.
My favourite—at least for today—is Rosalind. She’s resourceful, brave, witty, and she orchestrates her own love story.
8. Do you have a favourite play? If so, what appeals to you about it?
Hard to choose, but I’ll go with King Lear. There is so much to admire in the play. We see both the light and dark side of family relationships, with strong themes of love, betrayal, and redemption. Characters are richly drawn. There is an emotional intensity to the play which lingers long after the performance has finished.
A professor speaking on Radio 4 once said that when he teaches Lear to university students, they admire and analyse it. When he teaches it to older adults, they weep.
9. What is your least favourite play? Why?
Of those I’ve seen, Troilus and Cressida may be my least favourite. I got lost in the subplots and didn’t feel motivated to find my way out again. The author can’t seem to decide if the play should be a comedy or a tragedy, and a number of plot lines remain unresolved.
10. What piece of evidence, or lack thereof, convinced you that the authorship of the Shakespearean canon may be in doubt?
My background is research and evaluation, and I enjoy sifting through mounds of data. In the first few years of investigating the authorship question, I kept thinking there must be some definitive evidence and if I just kept looking, I would find it. I remain open to that possibility.
There are so many questions that have no reasonable answers. Why are there numerous financial records about his life, but none indicating he was paid as a playwright? Why no mention of his plays or any evidence of an intellectual life in his three-page will? Why was there limited acclaim when he died? Why were lesser playwrights buried in Westminster Abbey but he had a modest memorial in Stratford?
11. What is the first sentence you use when introducing the authorship question to those who probably don’t know much about it?
I start out gently, asking if they are aware that there’s a fair amount of evidence the man from Stratford may not have been the author of the plays. If I am not met with open hostility, I start to introduce the more compelling pieces of evidence.
12. What is the one book, talk, paper, movie, or television presentation you consistently suggest to those new to the authorship question?
I start by sending people to the ShakespeareanAuthorshipTrust.org website. If I think they are up for a longer, detailed enquiry, it’s Sweet Swan of Avon: Did a Woman Write Shakespeare, by Dr. Robin Williams.
13. What is your favourite piece of Shakespeare trivia?
The plague loomed so large over Elizabethan life that it is surprising people saw much theatre at all.
The historian J. Leeds Barroll III observed that between 1606 and 1610—when Macbeth, Antony and Cleopatra, and The Tempest were written—London theatres were likely open for no more than nine months.
14. Who is your favourite candidate as author?
As proposed in my play, I’d like to see the authorship question added to school and academic curricula so a wide-ranging, thoughtful examination of the evidence can begin.
I’m rather partial to Mary Sidney as a favoured candidate as her profile fits so much of the existing evidence. It’s intriguing that the First Folio is dedicated to Mary Sidney’s two sons.
15. What do you imagine might happen if your candidate is proved to be the author?
Ah, what a lot of excitement that would create. Interest in the plays would skyrocket. Fresh perspectives would ignite new productions, and theatres would buzz with reinterpretations of the plays. New tourist sites would spring up and an inventive Shakespeare trail could be created. Stratford would continue to thrive, captivating visitors with the tale of a masterful con man. The literary canon would be re-evaluated, offering exciting new material for students and professors to explore.
