Three Comments on The Beard.
 
 
The San Fransisco Chronicle:
 
"Intelligent, irreverent and buoyantly staged by Mark Rucker, "Beard" is the
story of how a young, stagestruck, barely literate rube from Stratford named
William Shakespere (the wonderfully eager,self-effacing, starry-eyed Matthew
Boston) became, if not the world's greatest playwright, at least a part of
the phenomenon known as Shakespeare.  It's the story of the famously
decadent Earl of Oxford, deVere(a brilliant, nonchalantly rakish Marco
Baricelli), openly bisexual but a closet playwright - and a host of other
noted Elizabethans from the court to the theatre.....  Like Stoppard and
others - such as Bernard Shaw in "The Dark Lady of the Sonnets" - she
(Freed) cleverly strews Shakespearean quotes and references about....  But
Freed's focus is very different.  Her riffs on the authorship question are
all her own, as the impressive comic skill she demonstrated in her earlier
plays in exploiting the cadences and metaphors of her poet subjects." 
 
The San Jose Mercury News
 
"Shakespeare has become in our culture, with good reason, the most defining
voice of western humanity", says playwright Amy Freed. "For the People who
are moved by it, the writing strikes such a personal chord that you want to
own it.  You want to know where it came from"..... "The question  excites
such monstrous emotions" says the playwright, who lives in San Francisco.
"People are just berserk over what they think is the misattribution of these
works.  It really attracts every kind of emotional fantasy and obsessive
personality.  No matter what side you're on, it can get a little
nutty"...... "In the past there has been a lot of social snobbery.  We're
very wedded to the idea of self-made people.  So there's really alot of
cultural projection on both sides.".  Freed has been researching the riddle
for years, but she doesn't see "Beard" as an attempt to solve the puzzle.
Hers is a picturesque romp that weaves together speculation and allusion in
a witty game of "what if" that is sure to fuel every conspiracy theorist's
fantasy....."In no way are we trying to put this forward as the truth,"
notes "Beard" director Mark Rucker. "However, I could believe it."  
 
 
Shakespeare Fellowship correspondent Earl Showerman from Ashland Oregon:
 
 
Marco Baricelli is a wonderful actor who was with the Oregon Shakespeare
Festival in Ashland for many years and played many memorable roles 
including Hamlet.  How fitting that he should bear the mantle of de Vere.
During the summer season last year the OSFA actually sponsored a noontime
debate between two members of the company - Barry Kraft representing
Stratford, and James Newcomb for Oxford.  Although I have no eyewitness
reports from the debate, Jamie played a brilliant and fierce Thersites in
Troilus last season, so I am sure he carried the torch quite well.
 
The OSFA season opens in February. I believe Bill Varble, a writer from
the Medford Mail Tribune, will feature an big article the authorship
question - he saw the Frontline documentary years ago, thinks like Mark Twain, and
lately he has had his mailbox filled with resources like the  Crossfire video,
Ogburn's "The Man..", Sobran, and Michell.