 He needed help, so he selected a younger writer by the name of Paul Meurice from among his coterie of protégés and assistants.Meurice had earlier collaborated with Auguste Vacquerie on "Falstaff", a combination of Parts I and II of Shakespeare's "Henry IV", which had been presented at the Odéon in 1842.The Dumas-Meurice "Hamlet" was performed at Dumas' Théâtre Historique in 1847 and had an enormous success.