The Tragedie of King John Falstaff is an alternate history to Shakespeare Henry V. Michael C. O'Day creates a delightful scenario (Glendower's Revenge Magic), high spectacle (a talking head mounted on a sacrificial alter), and gorgeous language ("I would dam the river Lethe, and divert its natural course, that I might pour it raging down my throat, and become oblivion itself.") Every Shakespeare lover should add this to their reading list!

I want to see this play produced!

What most strikes me, nestled in among the impeccable craftsmanship, great jokes, and delightful speculative twists, is O'Day's extension of Shakespeare's own ambivalence towards Falstaff: here we find the great good fun of a glutton, his seductive humanity opposed to all that is desiccated and joyless in our well-ordered society, and yet within little more than an hour we have also a second King Ubu, whose laughable corruption uncomfortably parallels recent US history.

Before I run out of words, I want to add this is full of terrific roles. Actors, dig in!

O’Day has constructed a fast-paced alternative-historical epic, with elements of speculative fiction and magic surrealism. A heady mix, written in assured iambic pentameter (and some tetrameter!) and mock-Shakespearean prose. The play asks: What if the man least-suited to be king somehow ascended the throne? Witty parallels to recent American history are craftily insinuated, but not over-emphasized. A fun read!