Office of External Communications

Houston, TX 77204-5017 Fax; 713/743-8199

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 27, 2004

Contact: Eric Gerber
713/743-8189 (office)
713/617-7130(pager)
egerber@uh.edu

Instead of “To be or not to be,” is the real question to crib or not to crib?

William Shakespeare is credited with authoring more than three dozen plays that are considered among the greatest ever written. But there are some who think the man who gave the world such classics “Hamlet” and “Macbeth” was a real scene-stealer. The Bard will face plagiarism charges on May 5 at a mock trial being held as a benefit for the Houston Shakespeare Festival’s 30th anniversary season.

At this dramatic reenactment to be held at the Federal Courthouse, noted attorneys David Berg, Racehorse Haynes, Harry Reasoner and Lynne Liberato will argue the merits of the case while a properly costumed Shakespeare (Rutherford Cravens) and his chief accuser, Edward DeVere, Seventeenth Earl of Oxford (Jim Johnson) will quietly observe. Also participating in the proceedings will be expert witnesses such as staunch Oxfordian Felicia Londre, a University of Missouri professor affiliated with the Heart of America and Nebraska Shakespeare Festivals, who will speak for the Earl, and Dennis Huston, professor of English at Rice University will stand for Shakespeare. The Honorable Lee Rosenthal will preside.

The public is invited, but seating is limited. Tickets for the fundraising event begin at $125. The reception, included in the ticket price, is set for 6 p.m. Trial begins at 7 p.m. For more information, contact Sandy Judice at 713-743-3003 or, by e-mail, at sjudice@uh.edu.

The Houston Shakespeare Festival has been presenting the Bard’s plays for free each summer at Hermann Park’s Miller Outdoor Theatre since 1975. “These productions have become a vital part of Houston’s summer scene,” said Sidney Berger, Director of the University of Houston School of Theatre and Founder, Artistic Director of the festival.

This season, “Macbeth” and “The Taming of the Shrew” will be performed. For more information about the Houston Shakespeare Festival, visit http://www.class.uh.edu/theatre/Performance/hsf.htm.

For more information about UH visit the university’s ‘Newsroom’ at www.uh.edu/admin/media/newsroom.