Was Shakespeare written by Shakespeare? People who want to poach his work for some noble pen ignore the references within the plays to the business of theatre. The Tempest is a good example of this. It gives knowing nods to the audience, the theatre and, in the figure of Prospero, Shakespeare himself.
The Globe Theatre in London does a solid job of putting the Bard on the boards. In this extract you can feel the references clearly: “We are such stuff as dreams are made of.”