The one and only William Shakespeare?

Bill Bryson fans may have noticed mention, in his Shakespeare book, of a theory that the bard's works were, in fact, produced by a syndicate of writers, operating under a single name. Bryson rebuffed the idea, but, keen for a second opinion, I put it to leading Shakespearian actor Michael Bertenshaw and found his response interesting...

'It’s possible, I suppose. Painters in that period often worked as a kind of production line, with the nominal artist having specialized apprentices, who would draw flowers, or hands and those areas would be allocated out. Now you’ve set me wondering if, perhaps, the works of Noel Coward and J.M.Barrie were written by committee but, sadly they’re also dead and we won’t be able to ask them. Of course I could make a name for myself, in academic circles, by proposing this as a theory! I’m happy though to believe Shakespeare wrote them, with the exception of Henry VIII, which is widely thought to have been with John Fletcher.'


He was also keen to speak of his experiences as a performer... 

'I go out on stage, before the enthusiastic crowd and feel incredibly lucky. We’re spared the worst excesses of concept productions and the attention to the text is meticulous. It’s just a bunch of actors showing off, with varying degrees of confidence, in an amazing space, buoyed up by an amazing audience, as we tell stories written by an amazing genius or, of course, committee of hacks, if Bill Bryson is wrong!'


The full version of this interview, which concerns The Globe's first ever production of All's Well That Ends Well can be found here....http://thoughtbubbleinterviews.blogspot.com/