# Which Shakespeare plays have you seen on the stage? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 5, 2011, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-shakespeare-plays-have-you-seen-on-the-stage/573589 "2011-03-05T16:15:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2011, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-shakespeare-plays-have-you-seen-on-the-stage/573589/1 "2011-03-05T16:15:54Z")
Poll is coming! I was thinking about Shakespeare a lot last night (thus my other thread) because my nephew’s in _A Midsummer Night’s Dream_ and plus we’ve been watching _Slings and Arrows_, which by the way is awesome. I’ve been comparing with friends and coworkers which plays we’ve seen _actually on stage_ and realizing that it isn’t as many as I kind of thought in my head, because I kind of think of “plays I’ve read” and “plays I’ve seen a movie of” in the same amorphous “Shakespeare I Have Known” category, you know? So I’ve _read_ all the popular ones, and I’ve seen most of the bigger screen adaptations, but I’ve only hauled off to the theatRE for a few. I’ve seen _The Merchant of Venice_, _A Midsummer Night’s Dream_, _Henry V_, _Romeo and Juliet_, and _Macbeth_. I thought I’d seen _Hamlet_ but can’t think where, so I probably haven’t. (I have, however, been forced to study it no less than four times despite not being a lit major.) I think I might have seen _Julius Caesar_ in high school but I’m not sure. On the other hand, I’ve seen _Midsummer_ I think three times not counting a ballet. Dear theaters: please stop doing that one for a while, I’d like to see something else. I’d really _like_ to see _Richard III_, _King Lear_, and _The Tempest_, if I had to pick. The poll includes everything that isn’t downright apocrypha. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2011, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-shakespeare-plays-have-you-seen-on-the-stage/573589/2 "2011-03-05T16:35:15Z")
Very few, sadly. I wavered for a bit over _Much Ado_…I \*played \*Beatrice in college, but I’ve never seen a production of it that I wasn’t in. So I didn’t click. ---
**Author:** ![Heyoka13](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Heyoka13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heyoka13)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2011, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-shakespeare-plays-have-you-seen-on-the-stage/573589/3 "2011-03-05T16:42:36Z")
I give high marks to the only one I’ve seen, Love’s Labor Lost. (It was waaaay better than Marat/Sade, for sure) ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2011, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-shakespeare-plays-have-you-seen-on-the-stage/573589/4 "2011-03-05T16:47:34Z")
I’m just curious as to whether anybody’s going to claim to have seen productions of the historicals that aren’t _Richard III_ and haven’t got Falstaff in them. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2011, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-shakespeare-plays-have-you-seen-on-the-stage/573589/5 "2011-03-05T16:51:49Z")
The only ones I’ve seen have been comedies (Much Ado About Nothing, Comedy of Errors, Midsummer Night’s Dream and Merry Wives of Windsor), mostly because someone thought those would be of more interest to a middle-brow audience of high school students and their parents. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2011, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-shakespeare-plays-have-you-seen-on-the-stage/573589/6 "2011-03-05T16:56:14Z")
There may have been others- My high school went every year to the Stratford Festival in Ontario , and I can’t remember them all. ---
**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:** [March 5, 2011, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-shakespeare-plays-have-you-seen-on-the-stage/573589/7 "2011-03-05T16:56:35Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > I’m just curious as to whether anybody’s going to claim to have seen productions of the historicals that aren’t _Richard III_ and haven’t got Falstaff in them. I believe I saw one of the lesser-known histories back in the '70s, but I can’t remember which one! It was probably one of the Henry IVs, so there would have been Falstaff. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2011, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-shakespeare-plays-have-you-seen-on-the-stage/573589/8 "2011-03-05T17:32:01Z")
Not one. A friend tried to talk me into going with him to the [Bell Shakespeare](http://www.bellshakespeare.com.au/) presentation of King Lear last year. I was happy that I knocked back the offer because after the event he revealed that, he so hated the production, he heckled it while it was on. He wrote to John Bell to explain his disgust but never received a reply. ---
**Author:** ![Clare\_de\_Loone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/clare_de_loone/32/3407_2.png) [@Clare\_de\_Loone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clare_de_Loone)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2011, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-shakespeare-plays-have-you-seen-on-the-stage/573589/9 "2011-03-05T18:08:35Z")
All of them, if you include Reduced Shakespeare Company performances! I’ve seen excerpts of _Much Ado_ and _Richard III_, and full performances of _The Tempest_, _As You Like It_, and a post-apocalyptic setting of _Macbeth_. ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2011, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-shakespeare-plays-have-you-seen-on-the-stage/573589/10 "2011-03-05T18:15:42Z")
I used to go to the Utah Shakespearean festival every summer when I was a teenager, and that’s where I’ve seen most of my Shakespeare. I’ve seen _Julius Caesar_ in Stratford-upon-Avon at the RSC with John Nettles as Caesar, and I saw an amazing production of _MacBeth_ in Philadelphia many years ago with just three actors playing all roles. My favorite Shakespeare production, though, was _The Taming of the Shrew_ at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC in 2003, with Jasper Britton as Petruchio and Alexandra Galbraith as Kate. They kept it set in the 1600s and did nothing to alter the script, but through the staging they highlighted the fact that Petruchio’s father had just passed away and he was in a psychological tailspin from the grief, hence his reckless and crazy behavior with Kate. But through their bizarre courtship, he finds as much healing and acceptance from Kate, as she finds healing and acceptance (after being mistreated by her family for so long) from Petruchio. Without changing a word of the script, they transformed a problematically sexist play into a story of mutual healing, true understanding, and equality. It was fabulous. 🙂 ---
**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:** [March 5, 2011, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-shakespeare-plays-have-you-seen-on-the-stage/573589/11 "2011-03-05T18:18:36Z")
I think I’ve seen all the comedies, but some of them sort of blend together in my mind, so I’m not completely sure on that. I’ve also seen most of the good tragedies, but the need for casting by race seems to rule out _Othello_ for a lot of companies, so I’ve never seen that one, and I think _King Lear_ must be intimidating to directors, because I’ve never had opportunity for that one, either. The only history I’ve seen is _Henry IV, Part 1_, but I misremembered it as being _Richard III_ for the poll (it wasn’t until after I submitted that I remembered a line to Google on). Most of the plays I’ve seen have been done by the local free Shakespeare company, Montana Shakespeare in the Parks. They do 3 plays a year (two outdoors in the summer, and one in schools in the winter), and mostly pick comedies (plus occasionally one by someone other than Shakespeare). So that’s why comedies dominate my viewings so much. And the poll really should have included _Love’s Labours Won_, too, just so we could see if anyone would actually answer it. ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2011, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-shakespeare-plays-have-you-seen-on-the-stage/573589/12 "2011-03-05T18:45:51Z")
I saw a fair handful of the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre productions when I was in high school, and once went to the Stratford Shakespeare Festival. Have seen some great productions; the best was a production of Henry V at Stratford in 2001. Interesting stage design using projected backdrops and excellent non-period costumes. ---
**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:** [March 5, 2011, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-shakespeare-plays-have-you-seen-on-the-stage/573589/13 "2011-03-05T18:53:03Z")
It’s a little misleading - I was surprised that the number was as low as 17 for me, but for the plays that I have seen, most of them I have seen more than once. I think for Midsummer Night’s Dream, I must be up to 8 or 9 productions, not counting the opera. (I didn’t count operas - didn’t think that was what you were after.) ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2011, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-shakespeare-plays-have-you-seen-on-the-stage/573589/14 "2011-03-05T18:53:12Z")
I’ve seen \*The Tempest \*and \*Romeo and Juliet \*and I’ve been in _The Taming of the Shrew_. ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2011, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-shakespeare-plays-have-you-seen-on-the-stage/573589/15 "2011-03-05T19:13:52Z")
It would be quicker to say which ones I _haven’t_ seen: _Two Noble Kinsmen_, _2 Henry IV_ (though I have seen a filmed version of a stage production), _King John_, _Timon of Athens_, and _Troilus and Cressida_. That said, there are a few more that I’ve only seen in crappy student productions, and I’d really like to see done _well_: _Two Gentlemen of Verona_, _Pericles_, and (surprisingly) _Macbeth_. Not sure I’ve ever seen a really good _Richard II_ either, now that I think of it. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2011, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-shakespeare-plays-have-you-seen-on-the-stage/573589/16 "2011-03-05T19:16:18Z")
I can’t believe two people claim to have seen _King John._ ---
**Author:** ![Lilacs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Lilacs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lilacs)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2011, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-shakespeare-plays-have-you-seen-on-the-stage/573589/17 "2011-03-05T19:18:32Z")
Our University used to do Shakespeare in the Summer, and they did most of the comedies. I didn’t mark the ones I wasn’t sure of; I’ve seen productions on film and get confused. My first stage play was _The Tempest_ and it was a really amazing production. I didn’t mark the histories, although we read many of them in my high school Shakespearean Theatre class. ---
**Author:** ![Ian\_D.Bergkamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Ian\_D.Bergkamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ian_D.Bergkamp)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2011, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-shakespeare-plays-have-you-seen-on-the-stage/573589/18 "2011-03-05T19:24:45Z")
Several, most of which I saw performed by a local theater that includes at least one Shakespeare play in each season. The first few seasons I saw there were excellent, but the theater changed hands/management a few seasons ago and the quality of the productions deteriorated considerably. My wife and I put up with it for a while, but decided not to renew our tickets for last season. Fortunately, I live an area that has a load of top-flight theaters, so I’m able to catch high-quality productions here and there pretty regularly. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2011, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-shakespeare-plays-have-you-seen-on-the-stage/573589/19 "2011-03-05T19:44:03Z")
I’ve seen _As You Like It_ (college production), _A Midsummer Night’s Dream_ (at the Globe in London), _The Taming of the Shrew_, _Twelfth Night_ (twice, including once at the Globe in London), _The Tempest_ (college production), _King Lear_, and _Macbeth_. I accidentally clicked \*Hamlet \* (only seen movie versions) instead of _Macbeth_ though, so the poll results are off on those. I’ve also seen _Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead_ twice. 🙂 ---
**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:** [March 5, 2011, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-shakespeare-plays-have-you-seen-on-the-stage/573589/20 "2011-03-05T19:50:26Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > I can’t believe two people claim to have seen _King John._ One of them’s me - the season I worked in Stratford, the Shakespeare productions were Midsummer Night’s Dream, Anthony and Cleopatra and King John. The King John was a stunning production of a not particularly brilliant play. I saw it at least 6 times… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-shakespeare-plays-have-you-seen-on-the-stage/573589.md?page=2)