Is There "Authenticity" in Theatrical Performance?

The problems of authentically re-creating plays from the past are by their nature unsolvable but still of vital interest to anyone interested in those plays. We can never know enough to present a truly authentic performance of most plays from Shakespeare's era, but disregarding what little we know or can surmise would distance us still further, making the play that much less comprehensible. Ultimately the performers and observers must try to approach the play themselves, rather than try to bring it closer to them.