Shakespeare's Dirty Cousin
Nobody knows who Shakespeare really historically was, but that has absorbed so much attention that nobody has even thought to wonder about his cousin, a peer and playwright in his own right and completely written out of history. But in their time, he, too, wrote many fine plays, some of which were performed, all of which, in time, were completely destroyed and forgotten with his tarnished reputation. In fact, it is likely some of the plays attributed to Shakespeare were his cousin's. His cousin was ever in Shakespeare's shadow and rumored to be less of talent, but this was a matter of taste and debatable. He certainly didn't know how to appeal to a crowd and this was reflected in his approach: he would obsess over a minuscule detail and completely lose track of the work, sometimes for months, even years, and this tendency only worsened with age. As such, he was not as prolific, but, it might be assumed, far more incisive with what he did finish. Shakespeare's cou...