# Shakespeare's most frequently performed plays **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** theater-stage-dance\ **Created:** [May 31, 2023, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakespeares-most-frequently-performed-plays/984838 "2023-05-31T19:38:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2023, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakespeares-most-frequently-performed-plays/984838/41 "2023-06-09T11:45:03Z")
Oh my, that takes me back. We went as a school group to see the Zefirelli at one of the big cinemas in London, where the organ and organist rose from the depths to play the big theme from the Tchaikovsky overture, and duly descended, which we found very diverting. I remember having as set texts in EngLit _Julius Caesar_, _Merchant of Venice_, _Winter’s Tale_, _Antony and Cleopatra_. As actual stage productions, I think the school put on the _Dream_, or part of it. Mostly I remember productions at university: _Hamlet_, _Measure for Measure_, Ian McKellen in _Richard II_, and an outdoor performance of _Love’s Labours Lost_ in a college garden. Otherwise, over the years there have been quite a lot of film and TV productions, but there are still some I haven’t read or seen. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2023, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakespeares-most-frequently-performed-plays/984838/42 "2023-06-09T14:44:48Z")
Just a reminder to everyone in this thread that you can watch all 37 plays on Britbox. They have the entire BBC Television Series, which includes my favorite production of _Twelfth Night_ with Felicity Kendal. ---
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2023, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakespeares-most-frequently-performed-plays/984838/43 "2023-06-09T14:58:08Z")
They’re also available for free on Kanopy, available through many local libraries. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2023, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakespeares-most-frequently-performed-plays/984838/44 "2023-06-09T15:35:14Z")
When I was a high school junior, my class read Macbeth. Everyone was required to perform a scene or a soliloquy for the class. I did “Is that a dagger I see before me…” ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2023, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakespeares-most-frequently-performed-plays/984838/45 "2023-06-09T19:55:53Z")
Im remember those when they were on PBS. They finally convince me, the comedies that is, that Shakespeare could be funny. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2023, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakespeares-most-frequently-performed-plays/984838/46 "2023-06-10T00:43:11Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Just a reminder to everyone in this thread that you can watch all 37 plays on Britbox. They have the entire BBC Television Series, which includes my favorite production of _Twelfth Night_ with Felicity Kendal. Is that the series that had John Cleese playing Petruchio? I thought that was the best _Tamin of the Shrew_ I’d ever seen, especially with his soliloquoy about how he would help Kate lose her shrewishness. He played it that he saw how she had been mistreated by her family, and he sympathised with her, and hoped to pull her back to what he saw as her true nature. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2023, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakespeares-most-frequently-performed-plays/984838/47 "2023-06-10T01:05:32Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > I dunno why _Romeo and Juliet_ is so popular. Compared to his other stuff I just never found it as interesting. It’s hard to sympathize with Romeo, who even by tragic hero standards is a doofus. I read in in Grade 12, by which point I think most of us could see that the heros were stupid. I did “Julius Caesar” in Grade 9 and it remains probably my favorite. Grade 9 - Julius Caesar and Henry IV, Part I Grade 10 - The Merchant of Venice Grade 11 - Othello Grade 12 - Romeo and Juliet, King Lear, and Hamlet The only one I’ve SEEN performed more than once, not counting movies, is Twelfth Night, for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2023, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakespeares-most-frequently-performed-plays/984838/48 "2023-06-10T01:07:57Z")
I may have seen recordings of more, but I’ve only seen the top 2 on the list live. Both were school productions: Midsummer was a middle school production by the middle school drama group, and Romeo and Juliet was a school production that we went on a field trip in junior high or high school to see. R&J was very accessible primarily because of the way it was delivered, with them basically acting out all the innuendo, which we teens adored. We did do live read throughs of parts of Hamlet and Macbeth in class, but I don’t count them. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2023, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakespeares-most-frequently-performed-plays/984838/49 "2023-06-10T01:14:16Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > R&J was very accessible primarily because of the way it was delivered, with them basically acting out all the innuendo, which we teens adored. Rule of thumb for Shakespeare: If you’re not sure if something is a dirty joke, then it is. Unless it’s from Mistress Quickly. In that case, even if you’re sure it’s not a dirty joke, it still is. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2023, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakespeares-most-frequently-performed-plays/984838/50 "2023-06-10T01:15:20Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > R&J was very accessible primarily because of the way it was delivered, with them basically acting out all the innuendo, which we teens adored. _Measure foir Measure_ would be a good one to introduce Shakespeare to teens. Dirty jokes, sneakin’ around in the dark, bad language, and a happy ending, with the bad guy sort of reformed, but still getting his comeuppance. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2023, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakespeares-most-frequently-performed-plays/984838/51 "2023-06-10T14:07:45Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > I’m a big believer in the “Shakespeare is better seen, not read” school of thought. It helps that we have an annual summer outdoor production… We’re so lucky to be within driving time of [American Players Theater](https://americanplayers.org/), where we’re seeing _Merry Wives of Windsor_ next week (before we need bug spray). My Fathers’ Day present. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2023, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakespeares-most-frequently-performed-plays/984838/52 "2023-06-10T15:22:11Z")
I saw a bunch when I was living in Montana at [Montana Shakespeare in the Parks](https://shakespeareintheparks.org/), and now that I’m back in the Cleveland area, a bunch more at [Cleveland Shakespeare Festival](https://www.cleveshakes.com). Plus the odd high school or college performance here and there. ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2023, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakespeares-most-frequently-performed-plays/984838/53 "2023-06-10T21:42:28Z")
It’s good to see that one of the numbers in the poll linked in the first post has changed. When I started this thread, 34% of respondents said “I have never seen a live performance of any of these”, but now that number is down to 22%. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakespeares-most-frequently-performed-plays/984838.md?page=2)