Looks like the Arden Shakespeare editors are adding yet another play to the Shakespeare canon, according to yesterday’s Guardian, “Shakespeare’s ‘lost play’ no hoax says expert: New evidence that Double Falsehood was, as 18th century playwright Lewis Theobald claimed, based on Bard’s Cardenio”
Arts correspondent Art Brown wrote:
The Arden Shakespeare’s general editor, Richard Proudfoot, said the play was being made accessible for the first time in 250 years. “I think Brean Hammond’s detective work has been superb. He is quite open to the obvious fact that there is an element of speculation, but both of us believe that the balance of doubt lies in favour of its claim being authentic rather than a total fabrication.”
. . .
Over the years some 77 plays have been attributed in whole or in part to Shakespeare, about half of them wrongly. There are also plenty of theories and books published claiming Shakespeare’s plays were written by Edward de Vere, Sir Francis Bacon or Christopher Marlowe.
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Update March 18, 2010:
Cultural critic Stuart Kelly posted an interesting essay on his blog, McShandy’s, today on the topic of Cardenio/Double Falsehood, “Single Error, Double Falsehood, Triple Bluff?”
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Update March 15, 2010 BBC: “‘Lost’ Shakespeare play Double Falsehood published — a play which was first discovered nearly 300 years ago has been credited to William Shakespeare”
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Update: Oliver Kamm comments
London Times Online, March 16, 2010: “It is part of his (Shakespeare’s) history that he knew and worked with his fellow artists on the stage and the page.”
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Roger Stritmatter suggested this online access to the play, Double Falsehood, on John W. Kennedy’s site: Double Falsehood or the Distrest Lovers.
