The Shakespeare Authorship Coalition, an alliance of persons and groups who doubt the traditional Stratfordian theory of authorship, has issued this message:
In 2010, actor Keir Cutler made a video for the SAC titled “Shakespeare Authorship Question: Why Was I Never Told That?” The video called attention to the Declaration of Reasonable Doubt and greatly increased its visibility. A lot has happened since then, so we thought it would be a good time to make a follow-up video describing some of what we have learned, especially about our implacable opponents at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust in Stratford-upon-Avon.
In the new video, “Is the Birthplace Trust Trustworthy?”, Cutler gives multiple examples of Trust officials or their allies misrepresenting, falsifying, and concealing important evidence in the authorship controversy. As Cutler explains, it is difficult to believe that any of the instances he points out could have been inadvertent. Trust officials did not deny any of the examples when we pointed them out, but they never corrected them. It seems fair to say that the pattern of apparent deception calls the Trust’s credibility into serious question.
This is consistent with (1) the Trust’s adamant refusal to participate in a mock trial of their claim that Mr. Shakspere’s authorship is “beyond doubt,” even when offered 40,000 pounds for proving it beyond doubt, and (2) Alexander Waugh’s discovery that five of the Trust’s top tourist sites aren’t what they say they are.
The implications of all of this for the authorship controversy are clear and profound, the video concludes: One doesn’t bother to misrepresent evidence unless one knows what it means, and one doesn’t claim that the authorship is “beyond doubt,” and then refuse to defend the claim, unless one knows that one cannot. Mr. Shakspere the player-investor, and William “Shakespeare” the playwright, were not the same person. The Trust’s behavior suggests that they know this, but that they are actively concealing it from the public.
One of the main obstacles to progress in the Shakespeare authorship controversy is our difficulty getting favorable media coverage of the compelling evidence contradicting the Stratfordian theory of authorship. There is no shortage of such evidence, but leading journalists seldom cover it, or cover it very unfavorably, because they generally defer to the recognized authorities, and especially to those at the Birthplace Trust. Given what our latest video shows, journalists should be highly skeptical of the Birthplace Trust’s claims.
Authorship doubters who know of journalists who cover Shakespeare or the authorship controversy may want to forward this announcement to them. Some of them might be willing to contact Trust officials and ask if they would like to comment on the specifics in our video, and then report on it and their comments.
Finally, please invite friends to read and sign the Declaration of Reasonable Doubt at: doubtaboutwill.org.
Please donate to the SAC
Please support our efforts to legitimize the Shakespeare authorship issue by making a donation to the SAC. All donations made during the rest of 2018 will be set aside in a separate fund to support challenges to the Birthplace Trust. The SAC is an IRS tax-exempt educational charity (Tax ID: 22-3935393). Donate online via PayPal, or send a check made out to “SAC” to: SAC, 310 N. Indian Hill Bl., #200, Claremont, CA 91711 USA. You do not need a PayPal account to donate via PayPal; all you need is a major credit card.
Thank you.
John M. Shahan
Acting Chairman, SAC
