Update on famous playwrights foreshadowing Trump

Plus reviews of Stratford’s The Merry Wives of Windsor and Studio 180’s The Chinese Lady

By Byron Toben

Famous playwrights

Back on Boxing Day (December 26, 2020), I posted my list of ten famous playwrights in whose work were characters foreshadowing Donald Trump. I invited viewers to add to this list, which totalled 16 such examples of their plays.

Shakespeare dwarfed the others, with seven of his plays. G.Bernard Shaw had two examples and the other seven, one each.

The prize for contributing to this “Sweet Sixteen” contest, which ended recently, was sixteen minutes of fame. So roll out the drums for Richard Orlando, who not only is a keen observer but had previously contributed a poem to WestmountMag.

Shakespeare dwarfed the others, with seven of his plays. G.Bernard Shaw had two examples and the other seven, one each.

His suggestion for a playwright was one of my favourite French writers, Jean Anouilh (1910-1987), who had penned an adaptation of Sophocles’ Antigone. (Sophocles being the first of my original ten.)

Mr. Orlando also suggested an additional example of a Shakespeare play, Cymbeline, one of few of the Bard’s plays I had never read nor seen. Taking into account Trump’s propensity for spouting untruths (56,000 according to a Washington Post count), Mr. Orlando refers to a line of one of the characters therein that “it is no wonder that poor folk lie, seeing as rich people do.”

Finally, he called my attention to a recent NYT article that discussed the numerous Shakespearean aspects of Trump’s flaws wherein Othello was added for the tricky character of Iago and Timon of Athens, where a wealthy businessman went broke and railed into the waves at the ocean side.

Finally, I now add another play myself to my listing of Berthold Brecht’s Three Penny Opera, namely his The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, wherein the rise of Hitler is compared to a Chicago gangster taking over its vegetable trade by any means necessary.

Illustration of Afong Moy, the subject of The Chinese Lady – Image: Unknown author, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons

Other theatrical ramblings

On Thursday night, a pleasure to view Ontario Stratford Festival’s StratFest@Home free film of The Merry Wives of Windsor. I had not realized that it was the only one of Shakespeare’s comedies set in England rather than some exotic far-off place. It even mentioned the local pub (the Garter) in this town not far from London. It also might well be called a guide for sitcoms centuries later.

The fat knight, Sir John Falstaff, famous for leading the young prince Hal astray in other Shakespeare tragedies, is here now retired and broke. Nevertheless, he seeks to seduce several wives of local notables. These clever gals lead him on, only to expose him to social and physical humiliation. Perhaps some hints of an I Love Lucy forerunner?

On Friday evening, I viewed Toronto’s Studio 180 Theatre’s dramatic reading of The Chinese Lady. This Zoomed two-hander was a fine showcase for writer Lloyd Suh and the impressive actress Mayko Nguyen as well as the actor playing her manager, John Ng.

‘Just as Black theatre has bloomed in recent years, so has Asian theatre as evidenced in this co-production with fu-GEN Theatre.’

She portrayed the 14-year-old girl, brought to the USA as a curiosity in 1834 to exhibit her dress, food, even tiny foot bound feet. Her show lasted 50 years as she aged, improved her English, and visited all the cities from Baltimore to eventually San Francisco. These visits included an audience with then-president Andrew Jackson.

Just as Black theatre has bloomed in recent years, so has Asian theatre as evidenced in this co-production with fu-GEN Theatre.

Looking forward to other Studio 180 readings in the Spring.

Feature image:The Merry Wives of Windsor promo, StratFest@Home

More articles from Byron Toben

Byron Toben, a past president of The Montreal Press Club, has been WestmountMag.ca’s theatre reviewer since July 2015. Previously, he wrote for since terminated web sites Rover Arts and Charlebois Post, print weekly The Downtowner and print monthly The Senior Times. He also is an expert consultant on U.S. work permits for Canadians.