Press release from Saturday April 14, 2007
Recent releases
- November 17, 2008
- Huntington Library staff sign Declaration.
- June 3, 2008
- Sir Derek Jacobi joins the Shakespeare Authorship Coalition as a SAC patron.
- December 1, 2007
- First annual report of the Shakespeare authorship coalition: the Coalition’s strategy is working! Over 1,200 people have signed the Declaration of Reasonable Doubt, and we’ve attracted enormous attention to the authorship issue. With each new signatory, it becomes more difficult for orthodox scholars to continue claiming that there is “no room for doubt” about the identity of William Shakespeare.
- September 23, 2007
- Nearly 800 additional signatories have signed the “Declaration of Reasonable Doubt About the Identity of William Shakespeare” in the two weeks since prominent Shakespearean actors Sir Derek Jacobi and Mark Rylance, former artistic director at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London, gave the Declaration its launch in the U.K.
- July 2, 2007
- SAC adds 100 signers to the list of signatories of the “Declaration of Reasonable Doubt”.
- April 23, 2007
- SAC releases its first list of signatories of the “Declaration of Reasonable Doubt”, on the 391st anniversary of William Shakspere's death.
- April 14, 2007
- SAC and the Shakespeare Authorship Roundtable hold a signing ceremony to issue the “Declaration of Reasonable Doubt”
- April 11, 2007
- SAC and Shakespeare Authorship Roundtable to issue historic “Declaration of Reasonable Doubt”
SAC contact person: John Shahan at (909) 896-2006.
Los Angeles, California, April 14, 2007 — "The 'Sweet Swan of Avon' is wearing no feathers!" declared Shakespeare Authorship Coalition (SAC) chairman John M. Shahan, during a signing ceremony for copy #1 in a limited edition of 400 posters of the SAC's Declaration of Reasonable Doubt About the Identity of William Shakespeare. The event, co-sponsored by the SAC, based in Claremont, California, and the LA-based Shakespeare Authorship Roundtable (SAR), took place at UCLA's Geffen Playhouse. Signatories included eight founding SAR members, and two other long-time members. Concordia University hosts a second declaration signing tonight in Portland, Oregon.
Signings are also planned at Brunel University in London (in September), and one on what is being billed as "Doubters' Day in the U.K." on September 8, at a suitable venue in the town of Chichester, following the Matinee performance of former Shakespeare's Globe Artistic Director Mark Rylance's new play on the authorship issue: The Big Secret Live — I am Shakespeare. Authorship doubters everywhere are being urged to see Mark's play, attend the event, and witness the declaration signing.
"Now, anyone who's interested can quickly and easily understand why so many very credible people have expressed doubt that the traditional Shakespeare — Stratford's Mr. William 'Shakspere' (which Shahan pronounced as 'Shack-spur') — was the author," Shahan said. "All one needs to do is read the declaration, which clearly and succinctly lays out the most important evidence and lines of argument in the longstanding controversy. The 'Sweet Swan' has been plucked, and he will never look quite the same to us again" he said, referring to the Stratford man, not the true author, whoever he may have been. To read and sign the declaration, go to the SAC website at: www.DoubtAboutWill.org.
The declaration does not address the question of who the author really was; rather, it addresses the threshold issue in the controversy — whether there is room for "reasonable doubt" that the Stratford man wrote the works. The moderately-worded declaration says "Reasonable people may differ about whether a preponderance of the evidence supports Mr. Shakspere, but it is simply not credible for anyone to claim, in 2007, that there is no room for doubt about the author." It concludes that "the identity of William Shakespeare should, henceforth, be regarded in academia as a legitimate issue for research and publication, and an appropriate topic for instruction and discussion in classrooms." The main objective of the SAC is to legitimize the authorship issue in academia through public education.
Seated, left to right: Charles Champlin, Peggy Champlin, Barbara Crowley, Sylvia Holmes (signing for her father, John Crowley); Jane Roe, and Richard Roe. Standing, left to right: Lorraine Perrotta, Virginia Renner, John Shahan (who did not sign copy #1), Sally Mosher, and Harry Schwartzbart. Please see the adjacent text for details.
The first group of declaration signatories included eight founding members of the Los Angeles-based Shakespeare Authorship Roundtable (SAR) — Charles Champlin, former Arts Critic Emeritus at the Los Angeles Times, and his wife Peggy; John Crowley, former mayor of Pasadena, and his wife Barbara; Richard Roe, Pasadena attorney and author of the forthcoming book, Shakespeare in Italy, and his wife Jane; long-time SAR president Carole Sue Lipman, assistant to the Head of Production at DreamWorks Animation; and Pasadena attorney and Renaissance scholar-musician Sally Mosher. Also signing were long-time SAR members Virginia Renner, former head of the Reader Services Department at the Huntington Library, and current SAC secretary; and Harry Schwartzbart, a retired metallurgical engineer, and founder and president emeritus of the largest chapter of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
The Shakespeare Authorship Roundtable website is at: www.ShakespeareAuthorship.org.
Visit the full gallery of photos from the ceremony.
SAC contact person: John Shahan at (909) 896-2006.