Was William Shakespeare a Sockpuppet?

Kirk McElhearn

I'm sitting in a hotel lounge in a town in the West Midlands of England, and I've just done one of my favorite things: seen a play written by William Shakespeare. It was a hot ticket; David Tennant, famous for having incarnated Doctor Who on TV for six years, played the venal Richard II, who pays for his conceit and falls from his throne.1
While the audience for Shakespeare's plays is generally diverse, tonight's crowd has a bit more tattoos and brightly-colored hair than usual. As my girlfriend and I eat a late dessert, people at the tables around us are discussing the play. Some of the younger spectators—mostly female—are delighted that they got David Tennant to sign their programs at the stage door. Some older people discuss the staging. And, in the corner, someone says, "But you know, Shakespeare didn't write this play."
David Tennant as Richard II. Photo by Kwame Lestrade
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