The new overlords of Kiralussats may have tried to bury the Mother Goddess, but she will always prevail. When the long cold winter finally burst into glorious spring, I was too big with child to till the fields so the nuns put me to work in the herb garden. With…

Falling in love in Kiralussats can be dangerous. The day little Saamar set out for Taivaros to become our Kiralus Reincarnate, the whole village turned out to sing him on his way, in awe of the Vadonus Taivuskira and his entourage with their caparisoned mounts and gilded carriages, envious of…

In this Tale of the Kingdom of Kiralussats we go back to the days before the investiture of the new God-King and explores the tensions disguised by the elaborate ceremony. Heimar embraced his cousin then looked both ways into the dark before closing the door. ‘Come, come into the warmth…

In this Tale we are introduced to the Kingdom of Kiralussats and witness the investiture of a new God-King in a ceremony that goes back over a thousand years. Ambassador Avalus Berisalzon shuffles from aching foot to aching foot, thrusts his hands deeper into his pockets and wraps his snowbear…

Could Christopher Marlowe have been the true author of Shakespeare’s narrative poems? On April 18, 1593, a narrative poem, Venus and Adonis, was entered on the Stationers’ Register in London, but without the name of its author. Its first recorded sale was on 12 June 1593. There is only one…

Did Christopher Marlowe actually create one of Shakespeare’s most famous characters? The Tragedy of Richard III is one of Shakespeare’s earliest dramas and one of his most popular. Its complex and malevolent eponymous role is coveted by all dramatic actors and has been played by many of the greats from…

Could ‘Love’s Labour’s Lost’ reveal the secret identity of the ‘real’ William Shakespeare? Love’s Labour’s Lost is a play of courtly love — a witty, esoteric play in which four noblemen court four noblewomen while on the one hand a lovesick braggart woos a country girl and on the other…

Did Shakespeare’s apprenticeship include a stint in Queen Elizabeth’s own playing company? In the 1590s four anonymous plays were published on the fledgling market for play scripts: The Troublesome Reign of King John (first published in 1591) The True Tragedy of Richard III (first published in 1594) The Famous Victories…

How direct is the relationship between Shakespeare’s ‘The Taming of the Shrew’ and Commedia dell’Arte? Probably the funniest production of Shakespeare’s play The Taming of the Shrew you will ever see harks back to 1976 in a production by the American Conservatory Theatre directed by William Ball & Kirk Browning…