Troop Crams 118 Years of Shakespeare Into 2 Months

Nearly $222M, according to newly filed documents

(NEWSER) - A penthouse in London broke records by selling for nearly $222 million, which makes it the UK’s most expensive flat. Oddly, the deal was made in 2007, but details were just recently filed, the Metro reports. The three-story apartment overlooks Hyde Park, and the as-yet-anonymous buyer is likely a foreign tycoon who paid cash. More»

Anna Chapman loses UK passport 'for public good'

(NEWSER) - So much for Anna Chapman's wish to return to the UK, where she lived from 2002 to 2006 with her British then-husband: UK authorities have sent Chapman a letter revoking her British citizenship. The spy lost her British passport under a law that enables the UK to revoke dual nationals' citizenship in cases in which doing so would be "conducive to the public good," the Daily Telegraph reports. More»

Royal Shakespeare Company performs tragedy on Twitter

(NEWSER) - Four hundred-plus years after the first production of Romeo and Juliet, the star-cross'd lovers are playing out their tragic tale in a new medium: Twitter. The Royal Shakespeare Compan's production of Such Tweet Sorrow will play out in real time over the next 5 weeks, with six actors improvising as they go along and incorporating input from the audience, the Guardian reports. More»

Double Falsehood is no hoax, experts say

(NEWSER) - A Shakespeare play dismissed as a hoax for nearly 300 years has now been accepted as the real thing. Double Falsehood, now under the name of writer Lewis Theobal, was—as its author always claimed—based on William Shakespeare's long-lost script for Cardenio, scholars say. Shakespeare publisher Arden has now published the play under the Bard's name and made it available in a fully annotated form for the first time in 250 years. More»

(NEWSER) - When the eyes of the world turn to London for the opening ceremonies of the 2012 Olympics, the land of Shakespeare and the Beatles will present ... the Spice Girls. "They stand for so much in British music history and I can’t think of a better time for them to get back together for another performance," says impresario Simon Fuller. The performance may accompany a farewell tour, he tells the Daily Mirror : "I think if they do it, it’s going to be in 2012." More»