THE CHRISTIAN SHAKESPEARE \u2013 PRESS RELEASE<\/strong><\/p>\n
June 2, 2012 \u2013 St. Louis, Missouri, USA<\/p>\n
The Theater of the Word Incorporated announces a new website devoted to the Christian elements in Shakespeare\u2019s plays, http:\/\/www.christianshakespeare.com\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Kevin O\u2019Brien, founder and artistic director of the Theater of the Word, sees a need for such a site. \u201cAs an actor and producer, it has become clear to me over the years that there is a fundamental misunderstanding of Shakespeare and his plays that is running rampant not only in literary criticism but also in live productions and in films,\u201d O\u2019Brien notes. \u201cAudiences and readers are thereby robbed of experiencing the genius and beauty that can be found in the works of one of the world\u2019s greatest writers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Joseph Pearce, an author and scholar whose works are at the forefront of the question of Shakespeare\u2019s faith, concurs. \u201cIn the past, the lack of knowledge of the personhood of Shakespeare has enabled critics to treat him as a tabula rasa<\/em> upon which they can write their own prejudiced agenda. For the proponents of \u2018queer theory\u2019 he becomes conveniently homosexual; for secular fundamentalists he is a proto-secularist, ahead of his time; for \u2018post-Christian\u2019 agnostics he becomes a prophet of post-modernity.\u201d<\/p>\n
And yet, as much recent scholarship has shown, documentary evidence indicates that Shakespeare was almost certainly a recusant Catholic, rebelling against the state-imposed religion of the totalitarian Elizabethan regime. \u201cAnd the plays,\u201d O\u2019Brien observes, \u201care profoundly Christian \u2013 written from a perspective that sees the human drama played out on a stage with heaven above and hell below, with virtue and vice very real things, the commitment to one or the other producing, quite dramatically, the consequences of our actions.\u201d<\/p>\n
The site premieres with articles by a number of Shakespearian scholars worldwide, including Fr. Peter Milward of Japan, who was at the forefront of the Catholic Shakespeare movement as far back as the 1960\u2019s; Dr. Colin Jory of Australia, who writes with clear and penetrating insight into the plays; and Thomas Merriam of England, who provides stunning \u201cnew scholarship\u201d that demonstrates that Shakespeare was most likely the key author of the original text of \u201cSir Thomas More\u201d, a play that\u2019s never been attributed primarily to him \u2013 until now.<\/p>\n
\u201cFr. Dwight Longenecker, Joseph Pearce and I also contribute a number of articles,\u201d O\u2019Brien says, \u201cwhich range from scholarly works with footnotes to entertaining and light hearted pieces \u2013 all of which look at the great gap that\u2019s grown between a clear understanding of Shakespeare and the deconstruction \u2013 or destruction \u2013 of him by the modern world.\u201d<\/p>\n
O\u2019Brien is encouraging other scholars and writers to \u201cjoin in the fun\u201d by submitting articles.<\/p>\n
How important will christianshakespeare.com be?<\/p>\n
O\u2019Brien replies: \u201cWe are defending Christian and secular culture against a devastating loss. This is a crucial front in the culture wars, for a clear understanding of the best of Western civilization \u2013 which must include Shakespeare \u2013 is indispensable to our education and to our humanity.\u201d<\/p>\n
For more information, visit http:\/\/www.christianshakespeare.com\/<\/a>, write info@christianshakespeare.com<\/a>, or call The Theater of the Word at 1-888-840-WORD.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Check thou it out!<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
THE CHRISTIAN SHAKESPEARE \u2013 PRESS RELEASE June 2, 2012 \u2013 St. Louis, Missouri, USA The Theater of the Word Incorporated announces a new website devoted to the Christian elements in Shakespeare\u2019s plays, http:\/\/www.christianshakespeare.com\/. Kevin O\u2019Brien, founder and artistic director of the Theater of the Word, sees a need for such a site. \u201cAs an actor […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[21],"class_list":["post-35888","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-cool-stuff"],"yoast_head":"\n
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