Was William Shakespeare a Jewish woman in disguise? John Hudson
is not the first to question whether Shakespeare actually wrote
the work attributed to him. Amateur Shakespearologist John
Hudson is not the first to question whether the actor William
Shakespeare was actually the author of the body of work we've
come to know as his, but Hudson is the first to suggest that the
true author was a Jewish woman named Amelia Bassano Lanier. Of
Italian descent, Bassano lived in England as a Marrano and has
heretofore been known only as the first woman to publish a book
of poetry ("Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum" in 1611) and as a
candidate for "the dark lady" referred to in the sonnets. Hudson
is the first to argue that she's the true author of those
sonnets.He is so convinced of Bassano's authorship that he
formed a theater company, The Dark Lady Players, to bring out,
through performance, the true meanings of the plays as, he
argues, Bassano intended them. The theory rests largely on the
circumstances of Bassano's life, wh