Mad Boy Chronicle

Edward L. Edmonds is a professor of education at the University of
Prince Edward Island and Honorary Chief of the Mi'kmaq of Prince Edward
Island.

Michael O’Brien’s parodic reinterpretation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet
draws on an earlier version set down in Books Three and Four of Saxo
Grammaticus’s Historica Danica.

The play opens in an atmosphere of Viking winterfest. There are
sensational appearances (ghosts and wolves), moments of knockabout farce
(as in the dousing of monks with ale), and acts of violence that include
the hamstringing of Fengo and the biting off of Lylja’s ear. The
dialogue is vigorous, concise, and scabrous. The appearance of Jesus
Christ, which will undoubtedly offend many readers, reinforces an
underlying message. Mad Boy Chronicle offers a pungent commentary on how
church and state have used each other for their own consolidation and
aggrandizement; and, further, how well-intentioned but misguided people
make easy prey for the more powerful.

The cover photo by Tony Hamill nicely captures O’Brien’s version of
the “mad boy” story.