Qudos Academy Publications

Published Reviews:

“Shakespeare’s Qaballah” – A Companion to Shakespeare Studies

Amazon Review by LB Sedlacek:

This new guide to “William Shakespeare”, contains everything you may have ever wanted to know plus more about the prolific historic author!  Leonidas Kazantheos thoroughly examines every detail behind these world renowned writings. 

The book is divided into three parts.  The first part examines the history behind the writer and authorship of the works.  There’s so many candidates as to who may have really written all that is attributed to Shakespeare and Leonidas Kazantheos provides an in depth look at one in particular.  The second part of the book examines the comedy, tragedy and romance plays.  While the third section deals with the historical plays and poetry.

What is most fascinating about this book is the detailed look at the cultures of the time and how these may have shaped each work attributed to the famous playwright. Leonidas Kazantheos includes those influences, or theatrical history explaining how all of these and more may have influenced the plays themselves.

From Chapter III:  The World As Stage

“From sometime around the 11th century throughout Europe there already existed a free-lance network of travelling shows, pantomimes, acrobats and tumblers, circuses, troubadours, and minstrels etc who made a living mainly by providing entertainment to the rural and urban regions of England, Ireland and Scotland. Some of them travelled from Europe and some were home-spun thespians who were eager to give dazzling displays of swordsmanship, juggling, tumbling, acrobatics and other bizarre entertainments. Conventional theatre at home probably began with the formation of the Chapel Royal where aspiring musicians and poets who were taught the basics of dramatic craft that Henry VIIIth loved so much.”

Having been a theatre major myself, I found the part about the theatre at the time to be fascinating.  There is so much that shapes what a playwright writes and the places where the works can be performed definitely affects that as much as the props, actors, and so on.  I’ve read several things about Shakespeare before, but in this particular chapter Leonidas Kazantheos dives deeper than most articles or books revealing so much more about the time period itself and how theatre as a whole carried on.

Leonidas Kazantheos does an analysis of each play along with a character list.  It essentially is like having Cliff Notes for each one all together in this book.

Leonidas Kazantheos contends that the man truly behind Shakespeare’s works was Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford.   One of the chapters in this resource book, examines this notion which seems to be the most popular of all the true authorship theories regarding Shakespeare.

From Chapter XIV:  Shake-speare Re-examined

“Although the basic factual details of his biography are well known and accepted, it seems on closer inspection that Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford, led a mysterious double life. No academic or historian would of course deny that he had a penchant for poetry, drama and historical study and neither that he was a well-connected man with some degree of military experience on the continent. He also had the private education, as well as the noble bearing and had travelled to Italy where a great number of the Shakespeare plays took place.”

It will give you food for thought, depending on who you believed wrote what.  It is certainly interesting.  Having lived directly across the street from the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC I have often wondered myself about the true origins of his plays and stories.

Another favourite chapter of mine was the one on poetry.  It puts Shakespeare’s sonnets under the microscope so to speak.  It picks apart many lines and verses with interesting tit-bits on how and why they exist or if there is something more to the lines than what may seem.

Most fascinating was the chapter on Cryptographic Systems.  So many hidden gems, thoughts, theories, and speculation inside these poems and plays.

Leonidas Kazantheos has had a long and accomplished career working in so many different areas.  This reference book shows what a gift he has himself with the subject of the Bard.

~LB Sedlacek is the author of the poetry collections “I’m No ROBOT,” “Words and Bones,” “Simultaneous Submissions,” “The Adventures of Stick People on Cars,” and “The Poet Next Door.”  Her first poem novel “The Blue Eyed Side” as well as her first short story collection came out last year entitled “Four Thieves of Vinegar & Other Short Stories.”  Her mystery novel “The Glass River” was nominated for the Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award.  She writes poetry reviews for “The Poetry Market Ezine” www.thepoetrymarket.comYou can find out more about her at www.lbsedlacek.com

The Shakespeare Mystery

Who was the real person behind the pseudonymous poet and playwright “William Shakespeare”? For well over 200 years well-known literary figures and theatrical commentators have cast serious doubts over the genuine authorship of Shakespeare’s Folio first collated by John Heminges and Henry Condell and finally published by Thomas Thorpe in 1623. Currently, many mundane facts that have been unearthed about the Stratford actor William Shakspere of Stratford upon Avon do not correspond exactly to the complex picture that some academics and scholars have subsequently drawn of the renowned Elizabethan playwright and poet “William Shake-speare”. This recent edition of Shakespeare’s Qaballah explores the character, skill and experience of the anonymous author and collates those serious doubts and theories on authorship for the layman. Subtitled “A Companion to Shakespeare Studies”, the 3-volume work may also be considered an in-depth miscellany, a compendium, a series of in-depth articles or reviews, or a general reference book for those wishing to know more about the social, historical and cultural background to the great English Bard’s literary and theatrical endeavours. It contains over fifty mini-biographies of Shakespeare’s contemporaries, alongside reviews of some 38 plays notably the Comedies, Tragedies, Romances and Histories as well as an analysis of the poetry attributed to the illustrious “Swan of Avon”. It is written in part for the layman or student and is clearly meant to debunk conventional assumptions and to deconstruct and re-contextualize “Shakespeare” for the 21st century.
Part One deals mainly with the authorship controversy; with an examination of some eight major candidates currently being proposed as the real author of the 1623 Folio. Part Two deals with the structural devices of Elizabethan theatre and literature while Part Three deals with the history plays and poetry attributed to “William Shakespeare”. Each section has several appendices covering Neo-Platonic and historical timelines including an introduction to cryptography for those hoping to uncover any secret messages hidden in Shakespeare’s work.
This 21st Century Companion to Shakespeare Studies makes a comparative analysis of those Elizabethan authors presumed to have contributed to or written the 1623 Folio, their talents, skills and facts of their life that might shed light upon or contribute towards resolving the controversial authorship debate. It is crammed with detailed information about the authorship controversy itself, the nature and style of Elizabethan theatre, the literary circles of the time, the histories of the monarchs featured in the history plays, and the dramatic and theatrical techniques employed. With every hope that Shakespeare enthusiasts, students of literature as well as theatre professionals should find interesting and revelatory.

Who Was the Real  “Shakespeare”?


Shakespeare’s imagery and vast literary references include the legal and social elements of the Inns of Court, geography, history, war and weaponry, sports and games, classical Greek and Roman mythology, drama, the natural world, sea-faring, hunting and falconry, astrology, medicine, botany, art and culture, fashion, gardening and animal husbandry, fencing and fighting, the stage, religion, the occult/magic, paganism, folklore, metaphysics and oratory. Furthermore, to write so accurately about these subjects he would have had a library containing over 3,000 books and yet in the final last will and testament of the Stratford actor, William Shakspere there is no mention of any library, any books or manuscripts. No, not even a bible. Why was it necessary to perpetuate the myth and legend of the pseudonymous “William Shakespeare” and who were the establishment figures who were anxious about the truth and subsequently responsible for this grandiose conspiracy and fraud on the world?
How did a relatively unknown and uneducated actor from Stratford-on-Avon become a universally popular and illustrious author of some 38 plays and several volumes of poetry? Having little or no primary education how could he have become acquainted with the complex techniques of classical poetry, English, Greek and Roman history, as well as the political, legal, and social mores of Elizabethan court society? Indeed, how was this relatively illiterate man, who could barely sign his own name, able to develop an extraordinary vocabulary of some 29,000 words of which 1,700 were coined by him in such a short space of time. Why was his death in 1616 not commemorated or eulogised and nationally mourned as a literary and dramatic genius? How could a man who had never known military service describe the historical battlefield so accurately and with such personal experience. If the man from Stratford had never travelled abroad how could he have known so much about the geography, customs and cultural traditions of towns and countryside in Venice, Padua, Antwerp and Rome?
It is generally accepted by academics that the pseudonymous “William Shakespeare” must have had a good grasp of classical Latin, Greek, Italian, French and Spanish, that is those languages specifically taught in England’s schools, colleges or universities. However, we are informed that William Shaxpere left Stratford on Avon in 1587 without ever attending a college or university or being tutored in any language save his own native Warwickshire. How and why was this anonymuncule given credit for plays and poetry far beyond his personal capacity and comprehension? In actual fact no mention whatsoever is made of Stratford or Warwickshire in any of Shakespeare’s plays or poetry. So how could someone who was untutored in languages be able to read so many books in Greek, French and Latin and speak or write so innovatively, eloquently and articulately in the English language?

“Shakespeare’s Qaballah” by the author, Leonidas Kazantheos

As the banner headline on my website, Qudos Academy states: “Deconstructing & Re-contextualising William Shakespeare In The 21st Century”, aptly describing my first literary endeavour to be published namely “Shakespeare’s Qaballah” which is a totally different approach and assessment of the dramatic and poetic works of the pseudonymous “William Shakespeare”. Not only does it bring a new light and comprehension, previously unacknowledged or ignored by numerous academics for centuries, but forensically examines the case for the “Group Theory” as well as that of “Alternative Shakespeare Authorship” in order to determine the true identity of the author of that well-known and treasured compilation of plays the 1623 Folio, a copy of which now permanently resides at the Folger Shakespeare Library. It also brings to the attention of the reader the myriad of interests and influences derived largely from 16th century occult science which literally pervade every play and poem “The Anonymous Shakespeare” ever wrote. Whilst conventional academics have in the past largely ignored these esoteric elements as being symptomatic of the occult philosophy of the time my book reveals their significance and meaning particularly where the magical, supernatural and paranormal are concerned. By drawing out these invisible threads inherent within the Great Elizabethan Renaissance it was possible to deduce what type of beliefs, education and upbringing the author would have held and developed in order to become in his early years such a prolific bibliophile, poet and polymath with no doubt an eidetic memory for literary, historical and dramatic expression. The book also emphasises the strong influence of Neoplatonic symbolism which has only recently been revealed and emphasised by other authors and poets such as for example Ted Hughes. The conventional view held by scholars was that this was a naturally born talent or influence, merely a gift that the poet and playwright expressed and elaborated on before he re-located to London. But my research has revealed an elaborate plot to conceal the truth and protect the reputations of the higher echelons of Elizabethan society. In my numerous revelations of “Shakespeare’s World” will be found the fundamental and complex elements of astrology, cosmology, alchemy, Hermeticism, cryptography, and above all the influence of the Elizabethan seasonal cycle and the Italian Commedia d’elle Arte on which many of the plays were forged and distilled. Additional academic papers, essays and other related articles can be found online at Google’s Academia whenever you google my name.

“Parthenogenesis” by the poet, Leonidas Kazantheos

“The poems are full of lyrical force and express a freshness of style. No doubt, this is a significant work. The poems display great powers of observation and originality of imagination and form.”

While researching my book “Shakespeare’s Qaballah” I was encouraged to write an anthology of poetry that reflects the styles and genres of poetic expression from the 16th to 21st century. It is an attempt to illustrate elements and techniques of poetry employed by poets in the past that are relevant to the present day. In it you will discover examples of epic to eulogy, from rhyme to blank and Sapphic verse, from Elizabethan sonnets to beat poetry and even rhapology. I have subsequently produced a screenplay entitled “Not Without Mustard” drawn largely from Shakespeare’s text and some of my poetry about the life of the extraordinary and much maligned aristocrat Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford who in my view is the strongest contender for the accolade “Star of Poets” and without a shadow of a doubt the anonymous and secret author of Shakespeare’s canon. Examples of my poetry and links to articles on poetry analysis can be found on the writers and performance artists website Write Out Loud.

“Not Without Mustard” a screenplay by Leonidas Kazantheos

The general concept of this film or theatrical performance is to re-create the major events of Edward de Vere’s life using textual passages from Shakespeare’s plays and poetry to be included in the production of the script cleverly coinciding with the storyboard and screenplay. In this way it proves that the life currents of Edward de Vere’s life coincide artfully with Shakespearean literature, thereby supporting the Oxfordian case in a creative way. Alongside extracts of Shakespearean text I have inserted extracts from Edward de Vere’s poetry, various extracts from letters, manuscripts, court reports and legal documents from the time for the sake of accuracy and authenticity. To make the film virtually seamless in a narrative sense and for contextual purposes I have also inserted extracts of my own poetry written while researching my book on the Shakespeare Authorship Controversy (“Shakespeare’s Qaballah”). The screenplay is in the form of Elizabethan theatre utilising a five-act structure, each act with seven scenes and covers the life of the young Earl of Oxford from the age of twelve until his death at the age of fifty four. For that purpose there will be at least two actors required to play the leading role, one for his youth and another for middle to old age. The film currently has the working title of “Not Without Mustard” or “The True Lamentable Tragedie of Edward de Vere”. For example, major events such as his confinement in the Tower of London parallel scenes in which historical figures recited their own soliloquies in the dramatic works of William Shakespeare as for example, in a scene from Richard II. To aid the narrative and underlying plot there are also extracts from Ben Jonson’s “Every Man Out of His Humour” and “A Yorkshire Tragedy”, the latter now considered to be in the hand and style of William Shakespeare and from other historical sources for the scenes where the Earl of Essex is in Ireland.
Basically, this low budget movie or “historical docudrama” will be shot in atmospheric black and white, Tudor film noir style, with sepia, green/blue and copper tones. No actual Elizabethan costumes will be required there will be just basic minimal clothing (black, grey, white polo-neck sweaters/pants) with occasional references to collars, wigs, capes, hats, boots and caps to denote status of character. Shadow sheets for silhouette shots, back projection for some scene locations, soft lighting, smoke machines, soft focus techniques in comic strip chiaroscuro, and unusual narrative angles. Rostrum and rolling camera for some scenes. The usual period history or drama clichés will in most cases be avoided whether that is in direction, production, acting or musical soundtrack.

Forthcoming Publications:

Scheduled to be published sometime in 2025 is a two-volume work entitled: “Shakespeare Revelations” which is a compilation of essays and articles supporting the assertions of the Shakespeare Oxford Fellowship and the De Vere Society that the real author of the 1623 Folio was in fact Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford. In these essays and articles you will discover most of the supporting evidence as well as the reasoning behind why it was necessary to conceal his identity as a playwright, who was involved in the cover up and most of all what the real “Shakespeare” believed, thought, and knew from the monarch’s court through to the common man. Was it merely a coincidence or deeply relevant to the Shakespeare Authorship debate that soon after the death of the Elizabethan actor William Shakspere, whose life embodied the legend of Dick Whittington, the country lad who made good in the capital, that this tale subsequently became a prominent theme within Jacobean theatre, culture and society? As a result of disseminating this picaresque theme, many people could readily accept that a relatively unknown person such as William Shakspere could ascend the heights of literary endeavour through his own efforts alone and become the most renowned playwright, theatre manager and poet of Elizabethan England.

The links to my current publications, on the Shakespeare Authorship Controversy; “Shakespeare’s Qaballah” and an anthology of poetry “Parthenogenesis” are as follows:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/8182537193
https://www.cyberwit.net/publications/1721

https://www.cyberwit.net/publications/1624
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/8182537193?ref=myi_title_dp

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“We all love Shakespeare, whoever he was…”

Visit www.DeVereSociety.co.uk >

THE SHAKESPEARE AUTHORSHIP QUESTION IS ANSWERED BY THE AUTHOR HIMSELF

Visit www.HankWhittemore.com >

The links to my publications 
“Shakespeare’s Qaballah”,
a Companion to Shakespeare Studies and my anthology of poetry, 
“Parthenogenesis”.