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A further update on the Toronto Conference

Posted by Richard Joyrich

I have more information now about the upcoming Toronto Conference to be held October 17-20, 2013. I urge everyone to register as soon as possible. 

Tickets to see The Merchant of Venice at the Stratford Festival on Friday are only guaranteed if your registration is received by September 15 (but MIGHT still be available later).

Also, the Metropolitan Hotel, where the conference is being held will only honor the discounted conference room rate of $135/night (plus taxes and fees) until September 17.

Please go to either the Shakespeare Oxford Society website (www.shakespeare-oxford.com) or the Shakespeare Fellowship website (www.shakespearefellowship.org) for other information and to register for the Conference.

Here is the current Conference schedule (subject to change):

               Toronto Conference Schedule
                   The following program is subject to change.         
Thursday, 17 October   
    12:00-1:00   Registration
    1:00-1:15     Welcome. Opening of Conference.
    1:15-2:00      Shelly Maycock.  (Virginia)
                         “Essex, Oxford and the Concept of Popularity in Late Elizabethan
                         Discourse.”  How the notion of popularity can be recast from an 
                         Oxfordian perspective.
    2:00-2:45      Priscilla Costello.  (Ontario)
                         “Astrology Confirms de Vere.”   A professional astrologer compares the
                          astrological charts of de Vere and “Shakespeare.”
    2:45-3:30     Ron Halstead.  (Michigan)
                         “Death of a Dictator: The Dangerous Timeliness of Julius Caesar and
                          the Authorship Question.”  De Vere’s interest in rebellion.
    3:30-3:50    Coffee break
    3:50-4:35  Walter Hurst.  (North Carolina)
                           “What’s Your Authority for that Statement: An Approach to
                             Examining External Evidence in Early Modern Authorship.”
                             How to evaluate the strength of historical evidence.
    4:35-6:00         Video: The Naked Shakespeare
                           A new video on the authorship question from Germany.



Friday, 18 October 
     8:30-9:15       Ron Hess.  (Georgia)
                            “The Significant History of The Passionate Pilgrim.” Did this work
                              predate both Venus and Adonis and Rape of Lucrece?
     9:15-10:0        Heward Wilkinson.  (UK)
                            “Coleridge and the Implications of Authorial Self-Awareness in
                              Shakespeare.”   There is no sign that the Stratford man embodied
                              the consciousness of “Shakespeare” while there is substantial testimony
                              that Oxford did.
    10:45-10:45     Michael Egan. (New Mexico)
                            “The Shakespeare Grain Dealer Uproar.”  The documented facts about
                             Shakspere’s financial arrangements, when compared with the plays, show
                             clearly that we are dealing with two distinct individuals, the man from
                             Stratford and the man who wrote the plays.
    10:45 –11:05   Coffee Break
    11:05-11:50     Tom Regnier. (Florida)
                              “Could Ben Jonson Think Like A Lawyer? Taking a Closer
                               Look at Clarkson and Warren.”   A revaluation of the 1942 study on
                               property law in Elizabethan drama which disparages Shakespeare’s
                               legal knowledge.
    11:50-12:35      Earl Showerman. (Oregon)
                              “A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Shakespeare’s Aristophanic Comedy.”
                               Was Shakespeare acquainted with Athenian drama?  The former
                               President of the SF explores the territory.
                                Lunch on own
     3:00               Bus leaves for the Stratford Festival
                                (Tom Regnier paper on “The Law and Merchant” on bus)
     5:00               Arrive at Stratford.  Meeting with Antoni Cimolino (Director
                                of Merchant)  followed by “on own’ dinner                
      8:00               Merchant of Venice on Festival Stage                      
     10:30             Bus returns to Toronto (arrives about 12:30 a.m.)

Saturday, 19 October
            8:30-9:30      Annual Meeting of the Shakespeare Oxford Society
9:30-10:15     Cheryl Eagan-Donovan. (Massachusetts)
                         “The Reason for the Alias: Oxford’s Bisexuality and the
                           Elizabethan Theatre.”  A look at the sexual behavior of both
                           actors and audiences of the period suggests that Oxford’s
                           Sexuality may have been a prime reason for the pseudonym.
            10:15-11:00    Hank Whittemore. (New York)
                                    “The Unbroken Line: Oxford, Acting Companies and the
                                    Phenomenon of Shakespeare.”  A look at de Vere as guiding
                                    force behind the three most important acting companies
                                    of Elizabeth’s reign.
11:00-11:15    The Missing Debate: A Comment. Don Rubin and Keir Cutler.
11:15-12:00      Roger Stritmatter (Maryland) and Lynne Kositsky (Ontario)
                         ‘Much Ado About Nothing: The Tempest Debate.” Two major
                         scholars put the Tempest dating debate to rest.    
            12:00-12:15       The Tempest Book launch/signing (Roger and Lynne)
           
12:15-1:45      Lunch (buffet with Keynote)
                        Mark Anderson (Massachusetts)
                        “Shakespeare, Newton and Einstein: Listening to the Obsession
                        of Genius.”  The author of the major de Vere biography, Shakespeare
                        By Another Name looks at the nature of genius and obsession.
 2:00-2:45        Robert Detobel/Henno Wember  (Germany)
                        “The Outcast State: Oxford’s Passion for the Theatre.”  Was it
                        his love of the theatre that led to Oxford’s “outcast state?”
 2:45 to 3:30    Keir Cutler (Quebec)
                         ‘From Crackpot to Mainstream: The Evolution of the Authorship
                        Question.”  Are the doubts about the man from Stratford becoming
                        mainstream? An actor suggests that the answer is “yes.”
3:30 to 4:15      Sky Gilbert (Ontario)
                         “Was Shakespeare A Euphuist?”  The connections between Shakespeare
                           and Lyly, between Endymion and Twelfth Night done with student actors. 
4:15 to 4:35      Coffee break
4:35 to 6:35    Canadian Premiere Screening: Last Will and Testament
Introduction of this full-length film by the directors – Lisa and Laura     Wilson.                                          

 Sunday, 20 October
 8:30-9:30         Annual Meeting of the Shakespeare Fellowship
 9:30-10:20       Ramon Jimenez (California)
                          ‘Shakespeare’s Two Lear Plays: How the Playwright Transformed His
                          First Romance into his Last Tragedy.”  From King Leir to King Lear.
10:20-11:20       Michael Morse. (Tennessee)
                           “What the Thunder Said and Tom O’Bedlam’s Song.”  Views of Lear.
11:20-12:15        Gerit Quealey. (New York)
                            “Studying Authorship: Why It Matters for Actors. The Road
                              To Revelation.”  How authorship research can inform and illuminate
                               A Text.” A working actor demonstrates her points with student actors.
12:15-2:00         Closing Banquet with Keynote.  Awards and Final words.
    John  Shahan (California).
    “The Shakespeare Authorship Coalition: Future Strategies.” The
    head of SAC and one of the editors of the volume Shakespeare Beyond
     Doubt:  Exposing An Industry in Denial discusses plans for the coming
     year.


The conference should be one of the best that we have had. I hope to see a lot of people there.

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