Orson Welles really made his reputation staging Shakespeare, particularly the “Voodoo Macbeth” produced for the Federal Theatre Project. Unfortunately, it was another Shakespearean production that perfectly symbolized the auteur’s mid-1960s fall from critical favor.
In retrospect, it is rather embarrassing that The New York Times was more preoccupied with Welles’ girth than his artistic vision. It is worth remembering the next time the editorial page decides to give us a lecture on civility. Still, a lot of people missed the boat on Welles’s Falstaff, and rights conflicts made it difficult for more appreciative later generations to catch up with it.
This is Falstaff's story, not Prince Hal's.
