The Merry Wives of Windsor in 1597, after which controversy over the original naming of Falstaff (he was originally the historic Sir John Oldcastle, which presumably did not please Oldcastle's descendants) forced Shakespeare to rename the character. It appears that the joke in V,v,85–90 is that Oldcastle/Falstaff incriminates himself by calling out the first letter of his name, "O, O, O!," when his fingertips are singed with candles—which of course works for "Oldcastle" but not "Falstaff." There is also the "castle" reference in IV,v,6. 18 January 1602 was the date the play was entered into the Register of the Stationers Company. The first quarto was
Bell Shakespeare they performed "Antony and Cleopatra", which toured to Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne, "Julius Caesar", which as the 2018 National Tour travelled to 27 venues across Australia, and "The Misanthrope" which played in Sydney. Their 2019 season includes an adaption of "The Miser" and the 2019 National Tour "Much Ado About Nothing", with one more show still to be announced. One of the Company's artistic goals is "to use Shakespeare as Australians", and Bell Shakespeare is well known for using contemporary styles to make Shakespeare accessible for modern audiences. Founded by John Bell in 1990, Bell Shakespeare began as a theatre