As literacy grew during the 18th century, a deep appreciation for the works of William Shakespeare grew astronomically as well.
A huge fan of Shakespeare's work was bookseller Samuel Ireland. Samuel was so obsessed with the “Bard of Avon” that he neglected his son, William Henry Ireland. William got his father's attention when he brought home a document written by Shakespeare that he found among estate papers of a client. After seeing how pleased his father was with this find, he brought home more papers written by the legendary playwright including a previously unknown Shakespeare drama called Vortigern.
Samuel arranged for Vortigern to be performed on April 2, 1796 at the Drury Lane Theatre. The theater owner knew the play was a fraud, but decided to let the show go on anyway. The actors were also well aware that the play was not the work of Shakespeare and hammed it up while they delivered their lines. The show had only one performance.
William Henry Ireland finally confessed that he wrote the play and forged the other documents, but his father believed they were the real deal to his dying day.
No comments:
Post a Comment