In 1728, a "new" play by William Shakespeare was published by one Lewis Theobald, entitled Double Falsehood, or the Distressed Lovers. It was based, in part, on Cervantes' Don Quixote (or, more specifically, the "Cardenio" section of that novel) and was allegedly co-written by Shakespeare's later writing partner, John Fletcher (who'd also co-authored The Two Noble Kinsmen and Henry the VIII). Theobald also claimed to have "adapted" the play for performance, adding yet another coat of rhetorical paint to Shakespeare's original work.
Most critics dismissed Theobald's claims as either theatrical ballyhoo (at best) or rank forgery and deception (at worst), especially when the warehouse where the alleged manuscripts were stored burned to the ground, taking the manuscripts with it to the ash bin.
Then, over 100 years later, something amazing happened: Evidence was found that there really had been a play called Cardenio, written by Shakespeare and Fletcher, performed in 1613.
So...was Theobald telling the truth? Was Double Falsehood really an adaptation of a lost Shakespeare/Fletcher collaboration?
Unless an actual manuscript turns up, we're not likely to know for sure. I read Double Falsehood back in college and thought, at the time, that there were Shakespearean aspects to the work. Now? I'm reading it again, nearly 40 years later, in a thoroughly annotated edition from Arden.
"The play's the thing..."
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