“ An absurdist midrashic tragicomedy about the execution of two minor characters in one of two books of the Bible in which God is not mentioned is a whole other Megillah! What choice do they have in becoming plot device in a text read every year on Purim? What happens when they realize that their ends have already been inscribed? Richardson gives Bigtan and Teresh backstories that connect them to better known characters as Mordechai, Vashti, and Esther, and historical events. ”