What If: Shakespeare

If you haven't read Simak's Goblin Reservation, do. It's a fun sci-fi book set in Madison in an era with interplanetary teleportation and also time travel--which sets the scene. The Time Department has brought William Shakespeare forward to give a lecture. (There's a saber-tooth and a ghost and a Neanderthal as well, but read the book for yourself.)

Take that notion as the what-if. You have Shakespeare available for a couple of weeks. He's an astute businessman, and will be happy to write whatever play you commission, and might be happy to write fewer than five acts. (Producers and directors would trample each other for the chance to produce/direct/film it. I suspect Shakespeare would love the "Take-2" capability of film--and also the ability to work with women instead of boys for the female parts.)

Would you risk a comedy? He might need a crash course in "what's funny this year"; as AVI noted, humor doesn't always age well. You might feel overawed and leave it up to him, but just for laughs, try to think of something--maybe a fairy story?

He did some historical plays. Their Finest Hour might be too huge a canvas even for him, but WWII seems like an inevitable choice. Unless you wanted him to try Apollo? Or if you wanted to keep it to things he knew about already, King Harold? Odyssus might not be a good fit, but Achilles might.

Or a tragedy. I brought the topic up at the table, and Youngest Daughter suggested Yamamoto: facing Fate in the form of the death cult militarists and the Emperor, and Nemesis in the form of the US Army Air Force. I don't think Nixon's story would be dramatic enough for Shakespeare. Maybe something classical?

Just for fun, what would you suggest?