John unearths ‘lost’ Bard play

BRUSHING up on Shakespeare . . . John with his new book

A man’s obsession with all things Shakespeare has paid off — as he thinks he has found an early undiscovered play by the world-famous bard.

Much ado about nothing, you may cry, but Dr John Casson, of Greenfield, believes that he is the first to attribute political comedy “Look About You”, which has gone unrecognised for centuries, to the playwright.

The researcher came to the conclusion after comparing hand-written notes on a manuscript in Lincoln with unique words and names used within Shakespeare’s better known work.

He said: “It is really strange that no-one has ever guessed that this play might be by Shakespeare.

“It was very exciting to discover it, but you have to be careful if you are making such an extraordinary claim.

“I thought that someone must have already made the connection but when I got the evidence I just thought it was astonishing, amazing and it was a great thrill to make such a discovery.”

On top of the startling revelation, Dr John Casson, who works as a psychotherapist in Uppermill, has also provided a hefty weight of evidence supporting the claim that William Shakespeare was a pseudonym used by diplomat and courtier, Henry Neville.

It was a suggestion originally put forward by Brenda James in 2005.

In his new book “Much Ado About Noting (sic)” Dr Casson explores further evidence that William Shakespeare was a front man for this hidden writer.

He has now had orders from across the globe, with readers eager to get hold of the secrets revealed by the meticulous research.

He said: “You try to keep an open mind for as long as you can, but there is a now lot of evidence that people are not aware of because it has not yet become widely known.”

The controversial claim is based on the fact that work by Shakespeare gives evidence of wide-reading, travel and foreign languages despite him never having left England.

Dr Casson is now in talks with potential directors to get the play “Look About You” back on the stage for the first time in 400 years.

The author will be giving a talk about his new book at Uppermill Library on Wednesday, May 19 at 6pm.