I finished reading Atwood's tale over the weekend, and it resolved itself fairly neatly. The book opened with an intriguing snippet of what was the climax--the viewing in the prison of the videotaped production of the play--which created suspense from page one. When the narrative finally led back to that point in the text, I was glad that no real physical violence transpired. The glimpse at the start made it seem a possibility, with stage notes regarding shots fired and voices shouting "Lockdown!"
The resolution offers Felix, the protagonist and director of the play, the revenge he long sought, after having lost his much-loved career, yet it comes about in an unexpected way, which is really more satisfactory than any possibility I imagined while reading. It also mimics Shakespeare's text neatly, as intended. The bad guys, who took Felix's career from him, get what's coming to them, and it comes about through a dream-like imprisonment (in an actual prison, as opposed to on an island, as it is in the original).
When I began reading, I didn't realize the publication is one in a series of re-imagined plays, all undertaken by different contemporary authors. This one sparked my interest in reading some of the others. They have not yet all been written, but they have been imagined and commissioned and are noted on the following link:
http://hogarthshakespeare.com/
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