← The Master of the Ceremonies
About the author
William Corbett
Writer, historian, photographer, film producer and DJ.
Published in
Kentishtowner.
William Corbett is a London writer and researcher whose work investigates Sir Lewes Lewkenor and the authorship of Shakespeare’s plays. A Kentish Town native, he has also worked in photography, film and music, performing as DJ Bill Dup in London and Hong Kong.
His book The Master of the Ceremonies: The Hand of Shakespeare, published in 2012, proposed Lewkenor as the writer behind the Shakespeare name. His continuing research traces the soldier, translator and diplomat through military accounts, published books, family relationships and the records of the Elizabethan and Jacobean courts.
Lewkenor’s career brings together Venetian government, continental warfare, aristocratic patronage and the reception of foreign ambassadors. Corbett examines these connections alongside the language, characters and historical settings of the plays.
The Master of the Ceremonies
This website presents the evidence play by play, with substantial quotations from Lewkenor’s writings and contemporary documents. Readers can follow an individual play or explore the people gathered in the Lewkenor Circle.
The expanded book develops the argument in greater detail, following Lewkenor from his Sussex family and military service to his appointment as Master of the Ceremonies to James I.
View the original 2012 edition →
The Master of the Ceremonies: The Hand of Shakespeare. ISBN 9781463547028.
Writing on Lewkenor
Lewes Lewkenor (1560–1627)
Who Wrote Shakespeare, Shakespearean Authorship Trust, 20 September 2025.
Corbett outlines Lewkenor’s life and the evidence behind his authorship argument in an article published by the Shakespearean Authorship Trust. The article presents his case; publication does not constitute the Trust’s endorsement of a candidate.
Interviews and press
Ich Bin Kentishtowner: William Corbett, DJ and historian
Kentishtowner, 3 June 2014.
An interview about Kentish Town, music, photography and The Master of the Ceremonies, illustrated with John Claridge’s portrait.
Rockin’ the Casbah
Steve Dougherty, The New York Times, 11 May 2008.
Appearing as Bill Corbett, William is quoted in Dougherty’s account of Essaouira’s Gnawa and World Music Festival, describing the music and atmosphere of the Moroccan coastal city.
“This really is a midsummer night’s dream.”
William Corbett, quoted in
Rockin’ the Casbah, The New York Times.