"It's an X Files type of thing. It's a great mystery," Kaplan said.
He said he became consumed by the debate about a year ago after seeing a television special and reading several critiques. Now he presents programs on the subject throughout the area.
Kaplan said he was particularly interested in the political aspects of the plays and the possibility that DeVere, who had ties to the Elizabethan court, wrote them as commentary on the prevailing political issues of the day. DeVere's need to distance himself from such risky commentary could be the reason his name was not attached to the plays, Kaplan said.
Scholars have argued for two centuries over the "true identity" of the author of the Shakespeare works and have sleuthed enough clues in the mystery to fill a police evidence locker. Handwriting, annotations in margins, class status, education, family history, political intrigue and the hidden meanings of phrases and passages have all been held up as evidence in the debate.
One of the latest pieces of the puzzle is a Bible found by a graduate student in England, Kaplan said. The Bible is believed to have belonged to DeVere.
Shakespeare's works have been attributed to others, including Francis Bacon, a contemporary of the author and a writer as well.
At the Keswick. Canadian folkie Gordon Lightfoot will perform favorites from his repertoire at 8 p.m. Saturday. Lightfoot, whose songs "Sundown," "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" and "If You Could Read My Mind" were hits in the 1970s, recently released the album A Painter Passing Through. Admission is $32.50. The Keswick is at Keswick Avenue and Easton Road in Glenside. For information and tickets, call 215-572-7650.
