Shakespeare Lied by Sky Gilbert

Shakespeare Lied by Sky Gilbert

Shakespeare Lied is Sky Gilbert's second rumination on Shakespeare to be published by Guernica Editions. It places 'the bard' at the centre of present day debates over 'political correctness.' James Baldwin said Shakespeare's goal was "to defeat all labels and complicate all battles by insisting on the human riddle." Gilbert asserts Shakespeare is not just another dead irrelevant white guy, but that he-- in the tradition of the Greek rhetorician Gorgias, and the scandalous, pornographic poet Ovid -- was a magnificent, and quite intentional, liar. Shakespeare believed the purpose of art was not to teach, but instead to help us transcend traditional notions of truth.

Sky Gilbert is an award-winning writer, director, and drag queen. For eighteen years, he co-founded and served as artistic director of Buddies in Bad Times Theatre (North America's largest gay and lesbian theatre), where he presented over twenty-five of his own plays. Sky is an associate professor in the School of English and Theatre Studies at the University of Guelph, where she also holds a University Research Chair in Creative Writing and Theatre Studies.