# What is Shakespeare's worst play? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 20, 2006, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-shakespeares-worst-play/345385 "2006-02-20T15:46:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2006, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-shakespeares-worst-play/345385/21 "2006-02-21T03:12:19Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > I think his worst play is one of his lesser known works - _Henry V and the Chamber of Secrets_. I found it very derivative. Seriously. You’d think after _A Winter’s Tale_ he would realize that the whole “Hermione is chaste” business was played out. Daniel ---
**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:** [February 21, 2006, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-shakespeares-worst-play/345385/22 "2006-02-21T03:37:11Z")
If I was asked the question on the street I would say Timon of Athens or Titus Andronicus (which has some REALLY bad writing, plotting, and characterization)…but this thread has made me remember how painful Two Gents was to sit though, so I am changing my stock answer. No matter how bad a tragedy is, it is never half as bad as a bad comedy, and that’s what Two Gentlemen of Verona is, a very bad comedy. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2006, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-shakespeares-worst-play/345385/23 "2006-02-21T03:48:22Z")
I’d call it a tossup between _Two Gents_ and _1 Henry IV_, but there are a few I haven’t seen or read. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2006, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-shakespeares-worst-play/345385/24 "2006-02-21T04:20:00Z")
Personal tossup between _Pericles_ and _The Comedy of Errors_, blech. ---
**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:** [February 21, 2006, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-shakespeares-worst-play/345385/25 "2006-02-21T04:23:43Z")
_The Comedy of Errors_ is funny if you see it performed by the Flying Karamazov Brothers. Every character does his/her lines while juggling. Truly demented. ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2006, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-shakespeares-worst-play/345385/26 "2006-02-21T05:27:50Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > No, that was Henry IV Part 1. (Joan was a mite after John.) That is indeed my choice - I started reading Shakespeare in order of writing, and never quite got through that one. When I restarted in another order I made it. > > John is fun in an absurd way. There is a scene where the people in a town call down to him that reminds me of Holy Grail. Titus is great fun. Henry VIII is worse than either of these, I think. _Henry VI_, not _IV_. Part 1, though. Put me down for _King John_. I also thought \*Titus \*was pretty cool. It’s a Roman revenge tragedy, so it’s not supposed to be like \*Hamlet \*or _MacBeth_ ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2006, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-shakespeares-worst-play/345385/27 "2006-02-21T08:39:54Z")
> [@Sevastopol](#): > > On the other hand the number one where Shakespeare really compromises what he is all about in the better plays; that’s Henry V, the infamous ‘national anthem in 5 acts’ I can’t let that pass: the Chorus supplies the bombastic jingoism, but its grandiloquence is invariably immediately and snidely undermined by the grubby or mocking reality of the early scenes of each Act. The prologue apologises for not being able to adequately depict the glorious and titanic struggle of two mighty monarchs, but is immediately followed in Act One, Scene One by two scheming prelates discussing how they can lure Henry into war against France so as to avoid his taxes on the Church. Act Two is introduced by the Chorus vaunting that, “Now all the youth of England are on fire,/ And silken dalliance in the wardrobe lies;/ Now thrive the armourers, and honour’s thought/ Reigns solely in the breast of every man.” Sounds good, but what follows it? Bardolph and Nim hanging out with doxies and squabbling with Ancient Pistol over money. Act Three has more has the Chorus describing the “culled and choice-drawn cavaliers” that have sailed to France, we get “Once more unto the breach” from Harry, in Scene One, but what follows this inspiring rallying speech? Why, it’s Bardolph, Nim and Pistol, skulking and shirking their duty until being beaten into the breach by Fluellen. A far, far subtler and more subversive play than it’s often given credit for being, and one which would well repay a closer reading. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2006, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-shakespeares-worst-play/345385/28 "2006-02-21T13:52:51Z")
TITUS (Andronicus) was a kick-ass movie with Anthony Hopkins and also inspired the best cinematic murder ever committed by Vincent Price (against Robert Morley in THEATRE OF BLOOD)- thus, Will S. is forgiven all flaws in TA ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2006, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-shakespeares-worst-play/345385/29 "2006-02-21T14:09:11Z")
_Romeo and Juliet II: Electric Boogaloo_ was so bad that he burned the manuscript and it was lost to the ages. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2006, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-shakespeares-worst-play/345385/30 "2006-02-21T15:03:38Z")
TITUS is actually very cool when seen as Shakespeare’s early draft of HAMLET. It conforms, if way crudely, to all of the forms of the cliched (even in 1590) “revenge” tragedy–the wronged and maddened hero, the grotesqueries, the cycle of revenge-for-revenge that helped define the form, which was a popular subgenre of entertainment, much as slasher movies, with their ocnventions are a staple of our time. Now all that remains is for us to have a contemporary playwright take this debased genre and create a masterpiece of it, as Shakespeare did in writing HAMLET. As to the worst Shakespeare play, I suspect it’s one of those I haven’t yet read, and probably one of the dubiously-authored or co-authored plays. because the more certainty of Shakespeare’s having written a play, the greater the chance of some genuine interest in what the bad play has to show about Shakespeare’s best efforts. The most poorly written of those Ive read, I think, is KING JOHN. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2006, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-shakespeares-worst-play/345385/31 "2006-02-21T16:18:41Z")
Clearly intended as such, the full title of Shakespeare’s worst play is **A tedious brief scene of young Pyramus, and his love Thisby; very tragical mirth**. Of course, it gets lots of laughs every time it is performed, but it is a very bad play. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2006, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-shakespeares-worst-play/345385/32 "2006-02-21T16:29:13Z")
Never finished **John** , though I’ve started it a few times. I’ll go with **John**. Interestingly, before the twentieth century, **Coriolanus** was considered the worst, and somebody (forget who) wrote in Shakespeare’s time it was performed “not above twice.” People weren’t interested in the message “no good deed goes unpunished” for war heroes back then. ---
**Author:** ![caveman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caveman/32/7242_2.png) [@caveman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caveman)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2006, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-shakespeares-worst-play/345385/33 "2006-02-21T16:48:14Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > Clearly intended as such, the full title of Shakespeare’s worst play is **A tedious brief scene of young Pyramus, and his love Thisby; very tragical mirth**. Of course, it gets lots of laughs every time it is performed, but it is a very bad play. At least the nobles sit though that one! The king himself walked out of _The Murder of Gonzago_! ---
**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:** [February 21, 2006, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-shakespeares-worst-play/345385/34 "2006-02-21T17:27:59Z")
> [@Governor Quinn](#): > > > [@Cervaise](#): > > > > Timon of Athens is a pretty big mess. > > To be fair, there is a belief that he may not have finished that one. Mrs. Piper and I saw it a couple of years ago in Stratford. The program notes indicated that there is no record of it being performed in Shakespeare’s time, so it may well be an unfinished draft. It was interesting to see, once, and had some moments, but not much memorable in the way of poetry. Certainly not ranking anywhere near the big ones. However, it certainly improves when presented by [cartoon dachshunds…](http://www.doxidelight.com/shakespeare/timon/timon.html) ---
**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:** [February 21, 2006, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-shakespeares-worst-play/345385/35 "2006-02-21T17:32:35Z")
Getting back to the OP (whatever it was :eek: ), I personally can’t agree with the condemnation of either \* 2 Gents\* or _Comedy of Errors_. In the right hands, they can be a lot of fun. I saw a Stratford version of _2 Gents_ many years ago and was entraced by it, and the Young Vic’s production of _Comedy_ several years ago was a hoot. Of the plays I’ve read and/or seen, I think _John_ and _Pericles_ are the poorest, followed closely by _HviPt1_. ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2006, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-shakespeares-worst-play/345385/36 "2006-02-21T17:43:43Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Who knew that **Shodan** felt so strongly about Shakespeare? > > I’m glad I didn’t start my planned thread on the worst Gilbert and Sullivan operetta (it might have turned out that he really liked _The Gondoliers_). What? _The Gondoliers_ is my favorite one! ☹ ---
**Author:** ![\_Deep\_F\_ied](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/7cd45c/32.png) [@\_Deep\_F\_ied](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_Deep_F_ied)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2006, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-shakespeares-worst-play/345385/37 "2006-02-21T22:40:35Z")
Here is this [thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=189587&highlight=SHAKESPEARE) as a point of reference. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-shakespeares-worst-play/345385.md?page=1)