# The best Shakespeare play **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 10, 2010, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-shakespeare-play/563620 "2010-12-10T03:09:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-shakespeare-play/563620/21 "2010-12-10T19:16:22Z")
> [@Tom\_Scud](#): > > I like Hamlet quite a bit, but went with King Lear. (Why checkboxes?) I figured just one option would be too limiting, so the checkboxes would give a broad view of best comedy, history, tragedy etc, which might be apples/oranges to aficionados. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-shakespeare-play/563620/22 "2010-12-10T20:24:17Z")
For me it’s between Hamlet and Othello, and I’ll go with Hamlet. Self-doubt, procrastination, a desire for certainty, family crisis. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-shakespeare-play/563620/23 "2010-12-10T21:22:46Z")
I limited myself to one and picked _Lear_. \*Hamlet \*is more a collection of great exchanges than a coherent whole, and I’ve fallen a bit out of love with \*Julius Caesar \*over the years. My favorite \*\*filming \*\*of Shakespeare is Branaugh’s _Henry V_–excellent use of the medium to tell a story using the Bard’s words for maximum effect, but with the courage to use film’s visuals in place of dialogue to good effect. I’ve gotten more out of _Titus Andronicus_ than any of these, but that’s another story. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-shakespeare-play/563620/24 "2010-12-10T21:28:02Z")
I was going to pick one comedy and one tragedy – but unfortunately you left _Comedy of Errors_ off the list. I hovered over _Hamlet_ and _Macbeth_ but settled on _Romeo and Juliet_ for the strength of the romantic imagary. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-shakespeare-play/563620/25 "2010-12-10T21:53:03Z")
My favorite film version would probably be the Richard III with the Nazi imagery. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-shakespeare-play/563620/26 "2010-12-10T21:58:52Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > **King Lear** , of course. Not my favorite. That honor goes to **Twelfth Night**. But by far the best. That’s a good distinction to draw. I’d rather see a good production of _Twelfth Night_ than any other Shakespeare show, but I do think that others are better written. I voted for _Romeo and Juliet_, though _Richard III_, _Hamlet_, _Lear_, _Much Ado About Nothing_, and _Othello_ are all close behind it. I could take or leave either Romeo or Juliet, but Mercutio captivates me, and I love the Friar. > [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > I was lucky enough to catch last year’s production at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival which was truly awesome. Just stunning. One of the best stagings of a Shakespeare tragedy that I’ve ever seen. Even better than their _Richard III_ a couple years back. ---
**Author:** ![NAF1138](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naf1138/32/3245_2.png) [@NAF1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NAF1138)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-shakespeare-play/563620/27 "2010-12-10T22:46:26Z")
> [@appleciders](#): > > I voted for _Romeo and Juliet_, though _Richard III_, _Hamlet_, _Lear_, _Much Ado About Nothing_, and _Othello_ are all close behind it. I could take or leave either Romeo or Juliet, but Mercutio captivates me, and I love the Friar. I am glad the R&J is getting some votes. I was re-reading it the other day, and I think I have come to the conclusion that it is significantly under rated due to overexposure. It’s \*really \*well put together structurally. It doesn’t wander all over the place the way some of his other plays do (Hamlet, I am looking at you) and Romeo is really a lot more of a bastard than I remember him being. Good stuff there, and a nice little message about teenage rebellion and parents looking out for their own best interests while ignoring their kids. Kind of a crap romance though. ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-shakespeare-play/563620/28 "2010-12-10T22:47:32Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > For me it’s between Hamlet and Othello, and I’ll go with Hamlet. Self-doubt, procrastination, a desire for certainty, family crisis. One of the best ideas for a production of Hamlet comes from Soviet Russia. Vladimir Vysotski performing in the translation by Vladimir Nabokov. Forget Hamlet the ditherer, forget Hamlet the indecisive, mother-loving, gay intellectual. Hamlet is a good man brought down by the constant surveillance of a regime that he cannot trust. He is destined to kill the king and take the throne, but he cannot trust his friends, his girlfriend or even his mother. Against this crushing, oppressive network of spies, what can one man do, except to play the clown and wait for his moment to strike… I’m told it was absolutely chilling, and his Hamlet had balls and brains to spare. I saw a brief clip in a biography of Vysotsky, and it was fantastic! ---
**Author:** ![NAF1138](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naf1138/32/3245_2.png) [@NAF1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NAF1138)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-shakespeare-play/563620/29 "2010-12-10T22:52:12Z")
> [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](#): > > One of the best ideas for a production of Hamlet comes from Soviet Russia. Vladimir Vysotski performing in the translation by Vladimir Nabokov. Forget Hamlet the ditherer, forget Hamlet the indecisive, mother-loving, gay intellectual. Hamlet is a good man brought down by the constant surveillance of a regime that he cannot trust. He is destined to kill the king and take the throne, but he cannot trust his friends, his girlfriend or even his mother. Against this crushing, oppressive network of spies, what can one man do, except to play the clown and wait for his moment to strike… I’m told it was absolutely chilling, and his Hamlet had balls and brains to spare. I saw a brief clip in a biography of Vysotsky, and it was fantastic! When my Grandfather (born in Lithuania, a native Russian speaker) found out that I was going into theatre professionally he sat me down to talk about it. The subject of Shakespeare came up and he started to go off on a long rant about how much he loved Shakespeare until he learned to speak and read English and how Nabokov’s translations were so much better than the dry crap old William was writing. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-shakespeare-play/563620/30 "2010-12-10T22:55:23Z")
Well, he was so much better in the original Klingon… ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-shakespeare-play/563620/31 "2010-12-10T23:06:11Z")
> [@Tom\_Scud](#): > > My favorite film version would probably be the Richard III with the Nazi imagery. Mine too, hands down. Brilliant movie. I love the swing band rendition of “Come Live with Me and Be My Love” opening the film instead of jumping right into the “winter of our discontent” speech. ---
**Author:** ![artemis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/91b2a8/32.png) [@artemis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/artemis)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-shakespeare-play/563620/32 "2010-12-11T00:02:18Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > I’m gratified to see that my personal favorite, _Hamlet_, is the favored play… I’m mildly disappointed that Akira Kurosawa never directed an adaptation, as itmwould have been the perfect métier for this play. He did! Check out _The Bad Sleep Well_; you can find it at Netflix. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-shakespeare-play/563620/33 "2010-12-11T00:08:26Z")
> [@NAF1138](#): > > When my Grandfather (born in Lithuania, a native Russian speaker) found out that I was going into theatre professionally he sat me down to talk about it. The subject of Shakespeare came up and he started to go off on a long rant about how much he loved Shakespeare until he learned to speak and read English and how Nabokov’s translations were so much better than the dry crap old William was writing. 😃 You know, I had almost the same conversation with my dad! Except that in my case it was about how it was a great Hungarian author (whose name I’ve forgotten) who translated them and how those Hungarian translations are so much better than the original English. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-shakespeare-play/563620/34 "2010-12-11T00:10:19Z")
> [@spark240](#): > > I cannot over-emphasize how much difference it makes seeing the plays _as plays_. I don’t feel that I’ve fully experienced the ones that I’ve only read, though I’ve liked almost all. > > I wish I had (or will have!) the opportunity to see _great_ stage productions of more of them. I’ve never seen a live _Henry V_ or _Othello_ that matched the best film adaptations, for example, though I like those plays very much. > > Among those I _have_ seen as great stage productions, I’ll go with _The Tempest_, then _Antony and Cleopatra_ second. > > If you have a Shakespeare repertory company anywhere within a day’s travel, please support them. Indeed. I never was too impressed by \*Measure for Measure \*until I had the opportunity to see it done live, by a professional theater company. Then I was blown away. ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-shakespeare-play/563620/35 "2010-12-11T09:06:47Z")
Richard III…intrigue, incest, murder who could ask for anything more? ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-shakespeare-play/563620/36 "2010-12-11T09:22:57Z")
> [@eenerms](#): > > Richard III..intrigue, incest, murder who could ask for anything more? It doesn’t have witches. That’s why I voted for _Macbeth_. ---
**Author:** ![vdgg81](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/3d9bf3/32.png) [@vdgg81](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vdgg81)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-shakespeare-play/563620/37 "2010-12-11T18:11:22Z")
I voted for **Macbeth** because it is my favorite play ever and a serious contender for the best of Shakespeare’s plays. I voted for **Hamlet** because it is my favorite play ever and a serious contender for the best of Shakespeare’s plays. I refuse to distinguish further! Third place is also a tie between **Othello** and **Antony and Cleopatra** (how come it’s not got even 1 vote?). I disagree with the Dopers who say that the plays have got to be seen performed. Sure, they work great on the stage (obviously) and it’s always a pleasure to witness a good production, but no live staging can capture all the nuances and possibilities that one can visualize while reading the plays. Also, there’s no Portuguese translation of the plays that’s considered definitive or seen to rival the originals. We’ve some excellent translations, both for the stage and for home reading (and they end up being very different), but too much has to be sacrificed. I guess the languages and literary traditions are just too different. (That’s here in Brazil. The Portuguese may think differently.) ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2010, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-shakespeare-play/563620/38 "2010-12-12T05:20:17Z")
Where is **Titus Andronicus**? Where are my sons? This is good pie. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2010, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-shakespeare-play/563620/39 "2010-12-12T07:48:31Z")
**King Lear**. I can’t help but love it the most. By the way, I hope all you Shakespeare fans are familiar with the Canadian TV series [_Slings and Arrows_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slings_and_Arrows). ---
**Author:** ![Sevastopol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cdc98d/32.png) [@Sevastopol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sevastopol)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2010, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-shakespeare-play/563620/40 "2010-12-12T11:20:02Z")
> [@StusBlues](#): > > … > > I’ve gotten more out of _Titus Andronicus_ than any of these, but that’s another story. But don’t you regret it now? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-shakespeare-play/563620.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-shakespeare-play/563620.md?page=3)