# What is Shakespeare's most underrated play? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 7, 2016, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-shakespeares-most-underrated-play/756783 "2016-06-07T23:14:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2016, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-shakespeares-most-underrated-play/756783/21 "2016-06-08T19:27:12Z")
I’d go with _Measure for Measure_ as well (as one of the supposed “problem plays”) albeit acknowledging that it is hardly underdone, and with some additional layers of subtext that we now experience in the era of mass media looking for (and sometimes concocting) scandal for fun and profit, just as Vincentio sets up Angelo to first be overzealous and then hypocritical (and as revealed at the end of the play, all to his own creepy interest). The Oregon Shakespeare Festival put on an excellent production of the play a few years ago set in a Hispanic ghetto and a female mariachi band as sort of a Greek chorus which was outstanding. _Hamlet_ is still the best fucking comedy I’ve ever seen, though. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Wallaby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/dc4da7/32.png) [@Wallaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallaby)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2016, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-shakespeares-most-underrated-play/756783/22 "2016-06-09T03:45:54Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Shakespeare’s plays are more likely to be overrated than under just by having his name them. Well, if Tripolar disappears mysteriously, I think we have a motive for his abductor. You are treading on dangerous ground, there, fella (I should know, I’ve been there myself:eek:). ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2016, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-shakespeares-most-underrated-play/756783/23 "2016-06-09T08:40:58Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > _Omelet: The Musical_ To brie, or not to brie: that is the question Whether 'tis nobler in the rind to munch on The bits and bites of a hasty repast, Or to wait on unto outrageous luncheon, And by forbearing lose weight? To fast: To pudge No more; and with a fast to plan to end The heart-pains and the thousand natural shocks The fat are heir to, 'tis a consomme Devoutly to be wished… Moral: Even when you see a temptation to go soft, you have a clear choice. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2016, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-shakespeares-most-underrated-play/756783/24 "2016-06-09T09:11:23Z")
> [@Fuzzy\_wuzzy](#): > > Henry IV, part I. > > Some of the history plays tend to get overlooked, especially if they come in two or more parts. It’s hard to think of a better Shakespeare play outwith his major tragedies; Falstaff, teenage angst, comedy, drama, Prince Hal, Harry Hotspur and more Falstaff. Just the right amount of high & low, comedy & drama. I agree that this play is underrated compared to _Hamlet_ or _MacBeth_, and Falstaff is one of the greatest characters in English Literature; however, it is taught a lot in universities-- if you take literature survey classes, it is the Shakespeare play that is usually taught, on the assumption that everyone had Hamlet & MacBeth in high school, and quite a lot of people had\* King Lear\* and _Richard III_ as well-- also, \*Lear \*is usually taught in basic writing classes for all freshmen that some people test out of, but probably 90% of college students take. I agree that it is just as good as these other really great plays, but would hardly call it his MOST underrated. It probably should be among the “big” ones, and most people don’t put it there, but for MOST underrated, I think I’d look elsewhere. > [@NAF1138](#): > > I love A Winter’s Tale, and that was almost my knee jerk answer, but there are really good reasons why that play is less well known (even though the bear is awesome! It’s a good read, but it’s actually a better read than it is a performance piece). But I don’t know why Cymbaline isn’t as well known as Romeo and Juliet or Othello. It’s every bit as good (maybe better than R&J). The reason I didn’t pick _A Winter’s Tale_ (and it was the first play that came to mind) is that it’s pretty well agreed that this play was a collaboration, so it’s not 100% Shakespeare. In all fairness, no play that has been produced is 100% the author’s-- much input comes from the actors and directors-- but the Shakespeare plays are probably 90% Shakespeare, except for the acknowledged collaborations, which may be closer to 50%. I have never seen a performance of _Cymbaline_, and wasn’t enthralled when I read it, but perhaps like _All’s Well_, it needs to be performed. Can we have a thread for most OVERrated play? I’d like to nominate _Romeo & Juliet_ six or seven times. ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2016, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-shakespeares-most-underrated-play/756783/25 "2016-06-09T09:42:42Z")
I agree with those who have said Henry IV Part 1. It has by far the best comedy anywhere in Shakespeare. When I was at school (many years ago) we did a school production of this play. It was the full play, not dumbed down at all, and I well remember the students laughing out loud again and again at different parts of play, and unable to keep a straight face while acting. And what makes it special is that they were laughing at _Shakespeare’s actual dialogue_ and the over-the-top comedy situations. The mini-play where Falstaff pretends to be King Henry reprimanding Hal, and then they change roles and Hal takes the part of his father, while Falstaff takes the part of Hal, is hilarious. So is the robbery at Gadshill and the scene afterwards. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2016, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-shakespeares-most-underrated-play/756783/26 "2016-06-09T10:11:25Z")
> [@Johnny\_Ace](#): > > The histories are just too dry and dull. (This coming from someone who’s read his Complete Works from cover to cover.) I dunno - I just finished watching the BBC’s _The Hollow Crown_ which is an adaptation of the two _Henry VI_ plays and _Richard III_ and there’s some fantastic stuff in there (along with a ridiculous amount of horrible death and betrayal) - it’s like a medieval soap opera with lots of throat-stabbing. But _Henry IV Pt 1_ is definitely better. I’m still a bit ambivalent about Kenneth Branagh nicking some of it for his _Henry V_ film. ---
**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, 2016, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-shakespeares-most-underrated-play/756783/27 "2016-06-09T10:23:33Z")
> [@GreenWyvern](#): > > The mini-play where Falstaff pretends to be King Henry reprimanding Hal, and then they change roles and Hal takes the part of his father, while Falstaff takes the part of Hal, is hilarious. And heartbreaking too, because it starts to foreshadow “I know thee not, old man.” It’s part of the genius - and the occasional unevenness - of Shakespeare that he can suddenly break from one mood to the other like that (depending on how the director and actors play it). ---
**Author:** ![Flocculencio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9dc877/32.png) [@Flocculencio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flocculencio)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2016, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-shakespeares-most-underrated-play/756783/28 "2016-06-09T22:36:34Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > My favorite Shakespeare play is _A Midsummer Night’s Dream_. I don’t think it’s underrated, necessarily, but maybe underestimated. In general, I think the comedies are under-taught, and if _A Midsummer Night’s Dream_ were taught in high school instead of the OVERrated _Romeo and Juliet_, more people might discover they like Shakespeare. I’m head of Literature at a high school here in Singapore and IMO it’s a lot harder for your average teenager to understand the comedies. Comedy tends to be very culture specific (and, well, the past is another country). I taught my class of 2015 _Twelfth Night_ and my current class of 2016 _Hamlet_. Taught another class the _Shrew_ a few years back, too. I realised that they needed a lot of explanation as to why a lot of stuff was meant to be funny, whereas with Hamlet, they had problems with the big existential questions but grasped the general essence of tragedy (hubris, harmatia and all that). In contrast with _Remains of the Day_ (I know we’re going way off topic from Shakespeare) which was somewhat more understandable culturally, they did actually grasp the bleak comedy involved. Caveat- I admit, as a Singaporean myself, that our educational and political system does very little throughout most of primary and secondary school to reward questioning, independence of thought, and initiative. Your results may vary. ---
**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:** [June 9, 2016, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-shakespeares-most-underrated-play/756783/29 "2016-06-09T23:21:14Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > A play I enjoy, and hardly ever get to see produced, is\* Troilus and Cressida\*. It was one of the first of Shakespeare’s plays I ever got to see performed. (The very first was\* Julius Caesar\*; I must have been 13.) The Pandarus in this production was rather swishy, and I remember vividly how he spat out the last two words of the play before storming off. ---
**Author:** ![JoseB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/joseb/32/1530_2.png) [@JoseB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoseB)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2016, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-shakespeares-most-underrated-play/756783/30 "2016-06-15T19:28:17Z")
> [@NAF1138](#): > > I say Cymbaline. It’s a fantastic play with great characters and sparkling dialogue that, for whatever reason, no one really knows. > > I love A Winter’s Tale, and that was almost my knee jerk answer, but there are really good reasons why that play is less well known (even though the bear is awesome! It’s a good read, but it’s actually a better read than it is a performance piece). But I don’t know why Cymbaline isn’t as well known as Romeo and Juliet or Othello. It’s every bit as good (maybe better than R&J). _A Winter’s Tale_ not only has the most awesome stage direction in the history of ever, as mentioned by **NAF1138** above… **Exit, pursued by a bear.** (And, at the time, there _ **was** _ a bear-pit in the vicinity of the theatre. I can perfectly see Shakespeare using a REAL bear to chase off the hapless actor playing Antigonus) …But, on top of that, _A Winter’s Tale_ is one of the first modern English literary works that uses the word “dildo” (Act IV, scene iv: “…he has the prettiest love-songs for maids; so without bawdry, which is strange; with such delicate burthens of dildos and fadings, ‘jump her and thump her;’ …”) Shakespeare could be a dirty, dirty man… XD ---
**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 15, 2016, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-shakespeares-most-underrated-play/756783/31 "2016-06-15T21:35:03Z")
I loved the way Montana Shakespeare in the Parks interpreted that stage direction. We, the audience, never saw the bear. We just heard it over the speakers, and saw the actor’s (very well-done) reaction to it. Judging by the actor’s reaction, the bear looked like it was about 20 feet tall, but then, I _did_ mention that this was Montana. ---
**Author:** ![Chihuahua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dec6dc/32.png) [@Chihuahua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chihuahua)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2016, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-shakespeares-most-underrated-play/756783/32 "2016-06-15T21:54:27Z")
I also like _Titus_. Historically it has always gotten a bad rap for being excessively gruesome and exploitative. I actually think it is quite good. There are several great speeches, but the entirety of Aaron’s raging vitriol in A5S2 is just terrifying and superb. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-shakespeares-most-underrated-play/756783.md?page=1)