On March 29, filmmaker Cheryl Eagan-Donovan presented her recently released documentary film, Nothing Is Truer than Truth, at Meese Auditorium on the campus of Southern Oregon University. Eighty members of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute attended, including Elizabeth Zinser, former president of the University from 2001 to 2006, and Jeanine Grizzard, Artistic Director of Ashland Contemporary Theatre. Also present was Paul Nicholson, retired Executive Director of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, who during his tenure saw OSF become one of the premier theatres in the United States. Shakespeare Oxford Fellowship brochures and fliers for the podcast “Don’t Quill the Messenger” and the Ashland Summer Shakespeare Authorship Seminar July 22-25 were distributed to the audience, who universally responded positively to the film. Eagan-Donovan was joined by Nicholson and Earl Showerman for an animated question and answer session following her film.
Eagan-Donovan was interviewed by Geoffrey Riley on the Jefferson Exchange radio program before the afternoon screening. The 17-minute interview, “Shakespeare (Or His Alter Ego) Stars In New Film,” is archived on the Jefferson Public Radio website at https://www.ijpr.org/post/shakespeare-or-his-alter-ego-stars-new-film. Feel free to add your written comments about the interview on that webpage. Eagan-Donovan explained in the interview how she came to the authorship question and decided to option Shakespeare By Another Name, Mark Anderson’s biography on the life of Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, as the basis for her film. She also fielded questions from listeners on such things as the authorship candidacies of Christopher Marlowe and Francis Bacon.
