They say good artists borrow and great artists steal, and Joshua Fardon makes that thrillingly literal in this captivating historical yarn. The play gets at some big ideas about the value of art--how a work's value is determined by how much someone is willing to pay for it, how our emotional attachments allow us to create our own truths. All art is forgery in its own way, the play suggests, so is William Ireland any less of an artist than Shakespeare, himself as much an invention as a real man? What does "authenticity" mean, anyway?

I’m amazed at how much I enjoyed this play! For a period piece about a “lost” Shakespeare play, it just simply moves, pulling you along relentlessly on a brilliant literary joyride. The action flows seamlessly from scene to scene and the richly depicted characters are charming, involving, and uniquely motivated -- their dialogue crisp and authentic to the times and the story. It reads like a caper, while giving the era the gravitas and respect it deserves. Really a brilliant work, this is a play Shakespeare devotees will love, as will the rest of us. Great cerebral entertainment.

For those of us who love Shakespeare - and all of us English majors who identify with history's great Bardolaters just a liiiittle bit too much - Fardon's tale of William Ireland and his forgery of VORTIGERN is a romp full of historical delights. Look just below the surface, however, and you'll find an all-too-timely tale of the seductive power of deception, and how easy it is to manipulate our desire to turn our backs on objective reality, and live in the world as we wish it might be.