Learn more about The Tiger Heart Chronicles
The Tiger Heart Chronicles is a fresh narrative reconstruction of everything touching on Shakespearean history from its prehistory before the 1591—92 season to the time it is all laid to rest in the period 1621—23. The series will bring together into one chronicle every written or printed notice to touch on Shakespeare, including
- all the works ascribed to the poet, William Shakespeare
- the life of William Shakspere of Stratford, actor and company shareholder, and the professed author of the works published under the name, William Shakespeare
- the other people who were part of the companies Shakspere worked for – Pembroke’s Men, the Lord Chamberlain’s Men and the King's Men – including their actors and playwrights
- the string of contemporary satirical hits on Shakespeare from 1591 to 1623, and the consistent piece of ‘news’ they would all relate: in the matter of Shakespeare’s authorship, there stood a woman at back
- the life of Mary Sidney, the Countess of Pembroke, especially from the time of her first theatrical patronage in 1591 until her death in 1621, and what her presence does to our understanding of the satirical record as well as our understanding of all that Shakespeare will write
By relating what the bedrock documents of history have to tell us, we can determine that the question of Shakespeare’s authorship arose the moment the poet’s hand was first noticed in 1592 and remained a ‘newsworthy’ matter throughout the period. The record further indicates that Mary Sidney was the best prepared and best positioned to do what Shakespeare would do but that she, as a woman, was barred. But from the beginning it is clear that the poet’s contemporaries understood Mary Sidney to be the force behind the pen.