Mad Boy Chronicle is a full-length dark comedy by Michael O'Brien. An unruly, dark and hilarious re-telling of Hamlet, set in the pre-Christian Denmark of the original legend and, beneath its Monty Python-ish parody, full of sombre thoughts about the abuses of power and the perverting of religion to achieve political ends.

Mad Boy Chronicle is set in the village of Helsingor in the Viking era (circa AD 999), as Christian missionaries begin their first penetration into barbarian Denmark. Based partly on Hamlet and partly on Norse sagas, Michael O'Brien has gone back to the old Viking story that was the source for Shakespeare's Hamlet, and reshaped the story of the melancholy Dane into a medieval farce that hauls the Hamlet tragedy howling back to its origins in Denmark. Join the Mad Boy Horvendal (Hamlet) as he sets out in fierce pursuit of his destiny, in a world where wolves, elves, spirits, and Jesus Christ all compete for the future of humanity.

Mad Boy Chronicle premiered in 1995 at Alberta Theatre Project's PlayRites Festival in Calgary and was nominated for a Governor-General's Award (productions followed at the Kingston Summer Festival, at McGill's Moyse Hall in Montreal, at 24th Street Theatre in Los Angeles, and in London, England).

Cast: 4 female, 6 male

What people say:

"...a lot of gross fun...." — The Globe and Mail

About the Playwright:

Michael O'Brien is a Canadian playwright who was born on Saltspring Island. BC and grew up in Kirkland Lake, Ontario, and London, England. After training at the University of Ottawa and the National School of Canada, he travelled across the country on the Fringe Festival circuit. His plays have been produced across Canada as well as in the USA and Great Britain.