With commemorations almost under way for the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death on April 23, we thought the time was right to rank every last play he wrote. So we asked three dozen of Britain’s most celebrated and opinionated Shakespeareans (listed below) to vote on them.
In the end, it was a closely run contest between the top two, and although King Lear appeared in most people’s top ten, it wasn’t in everybody’s.
The Bard by numbers: click here for our graphic
After that, there was a significant drop to third and fourth place. What was refreshing to see was how much opinion differed. Some plays, such as The Merchant of Venice, provoke wildly different reactions. So if you’ve ever come across a Shakespeare play you really didn’t like, and maybe felt you’d failed in some way, don’t worry. There’s a Shakespeare professional out there who feels exactly the same.
1 King Lear
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Top quote
“I am a man more sinned against than sinning.” (Lear)
The plot in ten seconds
How’s this for a bright idea: you’re not getting any younger, so you decide to divide your kingdom into three parts between your loving daughters? Only, whoops, one of them doesn’t care for your tone, and you tell her to get lost. The others tell you exactly what you want to hear but turn out to be simply awful, and before you know it you’re losing your kingdom and your mind.
What to say to impress
It’s a punishing piece of writing, which was deemed all but unperformable for a couple of centuries. If it was performed, it was the poet laureate Nahum Tate’s 1681 version, which had a happy ending tacked on. The original play’s reputation has been growing since the early 1900s, to the point where this tragedy is now celebrated as the greatest of them all.
Tune in to its emotionally devastated landscape — and I admit it took me many visits to go from admiration to love, and that was including lead performances by actors as great as Ian Holm, Derek Jacobi, Ian McKellen and Pete Postlethwaite — and you find a play that mixes the personal and the political and confronts us with the human experience with a brutal beauty that is unmatched anywhere else.
There will be plenty of chances to test this for yourself this summer; there are productions imminent starring Don Warrington (Manchester), Michael Pennington (Northampton) and Timothy West (Bristol).
The expert’s view
“King Lear is the Everest of plays, for audiences as well as actors: a challenge but ultimately the most rewarding.” Professor Stanley Well
2 Hamlet
Top quote
“To be or not to be, that is the question.” (Hamlet)
The plot in ten seconds
High-octane revenge drama in which young Prince Hamlet is called back from university to court in Denmark, only to find that his father was killed by his uncle, Claudius, who has married his mother and become king. The rotter. Hamlet sets out to right this wrong, but in the process brings doom on pretty much everyone, himself included.
What to say to impress
There is no perfect way of playing Hamlet because he is such a magnificent nest of contradictions: avenger, lover, madman, schemer, mummy’s boy, free spirit, diplomat, poet, lout, overthinker, hothead. Despite, or perhaps because, of that it’s the great chance for a young actor to suggest their greatness; recent Danes include Benedict Cumberbatch, Jude Law and David Tennant. The RSC’s imminent production stars Paapa Essiedu, a 25-year-old east Londoner.
The expert’s view
“Although I have heard the words so many times, I am always surprised afresh in performance. In Hamlet’s advice to The Players, it also has the perfect handbook for any director or actor on how to approach acting and staging his plays. I’ve used it many times.” Edward Hall
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3 Macbeth
Top quote
Life, Macbeth decides, “is a tale/ Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury/ Signifying nothing”.
The plot in ten seconds
Second-string Scottish nobleman nabs the crown, egged on by his unscrupulous wife, spurred by three local wellwishers. But reaching the top is one thing, staying there is another.
What to say to impress
Shakespeare’s shortest tragedy has given rise to some unforgettable productions. Patrick Stewart and Kate Fleetwood proved a chilling pairing in Rupert Goold’s gorgeously gory version in 2007, while 30 years earlier Ian McKellen and Judi Dench triumphed in an intimate production for the RSC. The less said about Peter O’Toole’s 1980 Old Vic performance the better.
The expert’s view
“Given its blistering immediacy and accurate portrayal of the psychopathy of a killer, I wonder if Shakespeare had actually committed murder? Either way, there is no rush of blood on stage quite like it.” Jonathan Munby
4 Twelfth Night
Top quote
“If music be the food of love, play on.” (Orsino)
The plot in ten seconds
Twins get separated at sea. One, Viola, lands in Illyria and disguises herself as a man to become servant to Orsino, who is trying to woo a local widow, Olivia. Complications ensue when Viola falls for Orsino, Olivia falls for Viola and a pompous servant, Malvolio, is duped into thinking Olivia has fallen for him. All ends well. Unless your name is Malvolio.
What to say to impress
The Bard’s most perfect comedy, a mix of romantic yearning and mischief. No wonder it’s revived so often. At its best (Sam Mendes’s production for the Donmar in 2002, say) it’s a crowd-pleaser that can bring tears to the eyes.
The expert’s view
“Shakespeare never wrote a funnier play or a sweeter one. All this in exquisite verse and with moments of darkness to keep fun and sweetness in check.” Benedict Nightingale
5 The Winter’s Tale
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Top quote
“Exit, pursued by a bear.” (stage direction)
The plot in ten seconds
Leontes, the king of Sicily, wrongly suspects his wife, Hermione, of cheating on him with his mate Polixenes, the king of Bohemia. Cue a trial, the death of one child and the exile of another before kingdoms and families are reconciled 16 years later.
What to say to impress
A weird but wonderful late play, as Shakespeare started to wrap in elements of fairytale to his mixture of the epic and the intimate (see also Pericles, Cymbeline and The Tempest, all being performed at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse in London). The final image, of the statue of Hermione coming alive after 16 years of estrangement, is one of the most memorable moments in the canon.
The expert’s view
“I love this play beyond words. Its fairytale-like structure sets many staging challenges, but when it works it transports an audience completely.” Edward Hall
6 Othello
Top quote
“Oh beware, my lord, of jealousy! It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock/ The meat it feeds on.” (Iago)
The plot in ten seconds
Othello, Moorish chief of Venice’s army, has married high-born Desdemona. Iago, his evil ensign, sets out to ruin him by convincing him that she is sleeping with his lieutenant, Cassio. And he manages it, the swine.
What to say
Nobody is better at giving us a panorama of characters caught in mental tunnels of their own or others’ devising. It’s agony to watch Iago play his boss like a piano, leading him to a retribution that nobody seeing clearly could contemplate. White actors no longer black up for the role but Patrick Stewart did play it in 1997 with a black cast. Nicholas Hytner’s 2013 staging, with Adrian Lester and Rory Kinnear, is the current one to beat.
“Desdemona’s cry of ‘Kill me tomorrow, let me live tonight!’ is ten syllables that tear your heart.” Declan Donnellan
7 A Midsummer Night’s Dream
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Top quote
“The course of true love never did run smooth.” (Lysander)
The plot in ten seconds
Potions, parodies, enchantments, transformations — the fairy Puck turning the head of the weaver, Bottom, into a donkey — social worlds colliding, and weddings in the woods.
What to say to impress Shakespeare’s most performed play? A genuinely popular entertainment, certainly: the RSC’s touring production ropes in local am-dram companies to play the so-called “rude mechanicals” (performing artisans of the forest). Often a chance for popular entertainers (David Walliams, Dawn French) to “show us their Bottom”.
The expert’s view
“Done to death, as is Macbeth, but always because someone loves it. Long may it reign.” Barrie Rutter
8 Much Ado About Nothing
Top quote
“Friendship is constant in all other things/ Save in the office and affairs of love.” (Claudio)
The plot in ten seconds
Singletons Benedick and Beatrice fall for each other despite much zingy protesting that nothing is farther from their thoughts. Their pals Hero and Claudio have an even bumpier ride.
What to say to impress
Propelled by verbal fireworks. Done right (by David Tennant and Catherine Tate, say) it just takes off.
The expert’s view
“The template for every romantic comedy since.” Ben Power
9 The Tempest
Top quote
“We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life/ Is rounded with a sleep.” (Prospero)
The plot in ten seconds
Prospero was Duke of Milan. Now he’s marooned on an island with his daughter and sidekicks. When his brother and usurper, Antonio, sails past, he shipwrecks him with a magical storm and reclaims his title.
What to say to impress
Touted as the Bard’s final solo play, it feels valedictory and is often seen as a metaphor for colonialism. Like many of his late works, it’s fabulous but odd.
The expert’s view
“Touches on all kinds of power, and how hard it is to give up.” Kate Maltby
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10 & 11 Henry IV Parts I and II
Top quote
“The better part of valour is discretion.” (Falstaff, part one)
The plot in ten seconds
Part one: Henry IV fights off rebels, while his son Hal fights off hangovers with Falstaff. Hal eventually comes good and saves his dad.
Part two: Hal rejects his boozing buddy and steps back into royal life, eventually being crowned Henry V.
What to say to impress
Shakespeare’s greatest history plays still fascinate with their power triangle of father, son and unholy but spirited Falstaff. They show the sacrifice of leadership and the cost of fecklessness.
The expert’s view
“It proves that Shakespeare wasn’t so much an intellectual as a man with sharp ears sitting in Warwickshire pubs.” Michael Pennington
12 As You Like It
Top quote
“All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players . . .” (Jacques)
The plot in ten seconds
Rosalind, the daughter of an exiled duke, escapes to the forest of Arden where she cross-dresses and finds love, as do three other couples. And yes, the good Duke gets his kingdom back from his brother, the bad Duke.
What to say to impress
Another frequently revived romantic comedy, this one offering one of the great female roles: played winningly on the London stage recently by Rosalie Craig at the National and Michelle Terry at Shakespeare’s Globe.
The expert’s view
“Rosalind is our favourite Shakespeare cross-dresser and it’s a joy to get caught up in this play where the heroine has all the best lines.” Elizabeth Foley and Beth Coates
13 Antony and Cleopatra
Top quote
“Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale her infinite variety” (Enobarbus)
The plot in ten seconds
Antony, Rome’s No 1 soldier, is annoying Caesar by spending all his time in Egypt, where he has a good thing going on with the queen, Cleopatra. Caesar and Antony wage war and Antony kills himself, as does Cleopatra, with a pair of asps.
What to say to impress
A tough one to pull off — Alan Rickman had one of his rare failures playing a lugubrious Antony opposite a more assured Helen Mirren at the National in 1998 – but a director who can make this succession of short scenes click has a rare combination of personal and political passion with which to play.
The expert’s view
“I like Ant & Cleo because it’s difficult, clunky, a huge challenge for all the leading characters and ultimately heart-rending.” Ben Crystal
14 Measure for Measure
Top quote
“What’s mine is yours, and what is yours is mine” (the Duke)
The plot in ten seconds
The Duke of Vienna takes a holiday from his morally depraved city — or so he says. Actually he has disguised himself as a friar to see how the city will fare if he leaves his censorious Angelo in charge. Not well. Angelo tries to blackmail a nun, Isabella, into sleeping with him in return for not executing her brother, Claudio, for getting his fiancée pregnant.
What to say to impress
This unsettling mix of bawdy byplay, moral ambiguity and emotional torture is rarely revived — and then three major London productions came along last year. When you’re hot, you’re hot.
The expert’s view
“This knotty, slippery drama’s examination of power, morality and sexual politics never fails to fascinate.” Sam Marlowe
15 Richard II
Top quotes
“This royal throne of kings, this sceptr’d isle . . .” (John of Gaunt) and “I wasted time, and now doth time waste me” (Richard)
The plot in ten seconds
The articulate but ineffectual Richard proves himself spectacularly ill-suited to the throne, while his rival, Henry Bolingbroke, proves himself a natural. Richard gets knifed, Henry becomes Henry IV.
What to say to impress
Seen a couple of times recently: with Charles Edwards at Shakespeare’s Globe and with David Tennant in fine form in the title role for the RSC, boasting a splendid rock-god wig that looked like it might once have been used to advertise Timotei.
The expert’s view
“The usurping of the crown is the original sin that kicks off the whole history cycle and moves the playwright’s dramatic imagination on to another level.” Ben Power
16 Coriolanus
Top quote
“Action is eloquence” (Volumnia)
The plot in ten seconds
Top warrior Caius Martius — aka Coriolanus — is Rome’s greatest asset in wartime, a liability in peacetime. He has mother issues too. So he goes and works for the enemy, the Volscians. When he then agrees to return to Rome, his new chums take it badly.
What to say to impress
Shakespeare’s final tragedy was made into a muscular film by Ralph Fiennes in 2011 and gave Tom Hiddleston a triumphant return to the stage at the Donmar Warehouse in 2013.
The expert’s view
“A tragedy that has brought fine performances from Burton, Olivier, McKellen and Fiennes, but the proto-fascist narcissist, his mad mood swings and boring battles have regularly left me feeling even more fed up than the relentlessness of Timon of Athens or the silliness of Cymbeline.” Benedict Nightingale
17 Titus Andronicus
Top quote
“If one good deed in all my life I did, I do repent it from my very soul.” (Aaron)
The plot in ten seconds
More Rome, much more bloodshed. Titus sacrifices the eldest son of the Queen of the Goths. The Queen gets her surviving sons to rape his daughter and cut out her tongue. Then Titus kills the Goth brothers and serves them up to their mother in a pie. I’m not making this up.
What to say to impress
This strange and nasty play can nonetheless be effective theatre, as Lucy Bailey showed in a grisly but blackly comical production for Shakespeare’s Globe in 2006, revived in 2014. Even if it made some of the audience faint.
The expert’s view
“My least favourite play. Astonishingly brutal. It makes Cleansed look like Anne of Green Gables.” Christopher Luscombe
18 Romeo and Juliet
Top quote
“Parting is such sweet sorrow” (Juliet)
The plot in ten seconds
Boy meets girl, and who cares if their families are feuding? Whoops, boy kills girl’s cousin. Boy gets banished. Girl promises to marry another boy, but – crafty – instead takes magical sleeping pill to make it look as if she’s dead. Boy finds apparently dead girl and kills himself. Girl awakes, sees boy’s body, kills herself. They don’t make ’em like that any more.
What to say to impress
This play created the template for all tragic young love stories, gave Leonardo DiCaprio a career break, and put the word “romeo” into the language. And it only just sneaks into the top half of the list. That’s showbiz.
19 Richard III
Top quote
“Now is the winter of our discontent, made glorious summer by this sun of York.” (Richard)
The plot in ten seconds
The canny Duke of Gloucester, previously seen up to no good in King Henry VI part III, is back to outfox everyone to become Richard III, killing a couple of princes in the process. He gets slain by Richmond, who then becomes Henry VII.
What to say to impress
Not a perfect play, but what a part: Mark Rylance and Kevin Spacey have triumphed in a relishably manipulative role that still can’t help but carry echoes of Olivier’s hunchbacked, rasping villain. (As celebrated by Peter Sellers, who recorded a version of the Beatles’ A Hard Day’s Night as if performed by Olivier’s Richard.) Ralph Fiennes is playing Richard at the Almeida in London in June.
The expert’s view
“Shakespeare tests love — is it conditional or unconditional? — and power — do you misuse it or not use it enough? He knows that there are certain acts that should not be done if we consider ourselves civilised.” Patsy Rodenburg
20 The Merchant of Venice
Top quote
“All that glisters is not gold” (Prince of Morocco)
The plot in ten seconds
Antonio borrows cash from a money lender, Shylock, offering a pound of flesh as collateral. When Antonio faces bankruptcy, Shylock demands payment. But the heiress Portia, disguised as a male lawyer, argues the contract permits flesh but no blood.
What to say to impress
One of Shakespeare’s most boobytrapped texts: is it racist, or commenting on racism?
The expert’s view
“Shakespeare neither condones nor condemns the antisemitism of his time, simply depicting a nasty Jew, nasty Christians and the social causes of their mutual suspicion. His sympathy for the outsider
shows: it’s striking how many Jewish Shakespeareans cite it as their favourite play.” Kate Maltby
21 Love’s Labour’s Lost
Top quote
“Your wit’s too hot, it speeds too fast, ’twill tire.” (Berowne)
The plot in ten seconds
In the kingdom of Navarre, King Ferdinand slaps an order of chastity upon himself and his three male attendants. This edict crumbles the moment the Princess of France and her three female attendants arrive.
What to say to impress
Is there a sequel, Love’s Labour’s Won? Scholars have long debated this after a bookseller’s 1603 inventory was found with a work of that name. The RSC has staged a double bill of Love’s Labour’s Lost and Love’s Labour’s Won — but the latter was just a new title for Much Ado About Nothing.
22 Henry V
Top quote
“Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more” (Henry)
The plot in ten seconds
The French insult England’s young king, Henry V, by sending him a bunch of tennis balls. Big mistake. Before you know it he’s invaded their country and taken their princess as his wife.
What to say to impress
Certainly a play with jingoism in it: the debate that rages is whether it’s a jingoistic play. Olivier used it to proudly patriotic ends in his film, shot during the Second World War; the RSC’s recent production, starring Alex Hassell as Henry, was witty, thoughtful and remarkably unshouty.
The expert’s view
“Its prologue encapsulates everything I love about theatre.” Tom Morris
“So overrated. I think it’s a sort of fascist play and that so many interpretations have indulged in a sort of sentimentalised nationalism.” William Galinsky
23 The Comedy of Errors
Top quote
“We came into the world like brother and brother, And now let’s go hand in hand, not one before another.” (Dromio of Ephesus)
The plot in ten seconds
Two twins, both called Antipholus, get lost in a shipwreck, as do their servants, both called Dromio. Bear with. One set went to Syracuse, the other set went to Ephesus. This is the day they are all in Ephesus together. Cue mistaken identities and eventual reunion.
What to say to impress
An early effort, which borrows from the Roman playwright Plautus — Shakespeare was usually borrowing from somewhere — but if you swallow the premise it’s beautifully plotted and its family reunion at the end can be surprisingly moving. Lenny Henry did his second Shakespeare — following a well-received debut as Othello — as Antipholus of Syracuse at the National in 2011.
24 Julius Caesar
Top quote
“Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears . . .” (Antony)
Bonus top quote
“Et tu, Brute? Then fall, Caesar!” (Caesar)
The plot in ten seconds
Julius Caesar is murdered by Brutus, Cassius and chums. Mark Antony leads an army against them.
What to say to impress
In 2012 the Donmar Warehouse staged a hugely effective all-female version of this usually bloke-heavy Roman history play, starring Harriet Walter and Cush Jumbo. It went to New York, as did its follow-up, the
all-female Henry IV, again with Walter.
25 Cymbeline
Top new phrases coined
“The game is up!” (Belarius) and “I have not slept one wink” (Pisanio)
The plot in ten seconds
Princess Innogen, daughter of King Cymbeline of Britain, has a hard time of it as her husband, Posthumus, is banished to Rome and cajoled into murderous jealousy.
What to say to impress
One of the late fairytale-inflected romances — or “a crazy plot mash-up” as Tim Etchells describes it — Cymbeline is rarely seen but is now at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse in London, will appear at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford in April and will be staged outdoors at Shakespeare’s Globe in the autumn (renamed Imogen). That’s anniversary years for you, I suppose.
26 Pericles
Top quote
“For death remembered should be like a mirror, who tells us life’s but breath, to trust it error.” (Pericles)
The plot in ten seconds
Pericles, wandering prince of Tyre, marries Thaisa, loses her at sea but, years later, is reunited with their daughter Marina and, finally, Thaisa.
What to say to impress
Another that’s not easy and rarely tackled (the first two acts, thought to have been written by George Wilkins, are inferior to the rest). But Dominic Dromgoole’s present revival at the Sam Wanmaker Playhouse shows how entertaining and moving it can be.
The expert’s view
“An underrated masterpiece. Essentially Game of Thrones meets Sinbad the Sailor.” Ben Crystal
27 The Merry Wives of Windsor
Top quote “Why, then the world’s mine oyster.” (Pistol)
The plot in ten seconds A spin-off adventure for Sir John Falstaff in Elizabethan Windsor, where he tries to seduce two wives to get some of their husbands’ money.
What to say to impress The only Shakespeare play whose events take place entirely in England.
The expert’s view “I refuse to believe the virgin queen commissioned a Falstaff sex-comedy. No one who’d translated Petrarch could have anything to do with this crap.” Kate Maltby
28, 29, 30 Henry VI, Parts I, II and III
Top quote “The smallest worm will turn, being trodden on.” (Clifford, Part III)
The plot in ten seconds Part I: Henry V dies. His son, Henry VI, does not prove such a natural leader, fighting Joan of Arc in Rouen but going on to lose England’s territories in France.
Part II: Henry’s supporters argue among themselves, Jack Cade leads a rebellion, and the ambitious Richard, Duke of Gloucester, makes his first appearance.
Part III: It’s the Wars of the Roses. Richard, soon to be Richard III, stabs Henry.
What to say to impress Early Shakespeare, most often performed as a trilogy and a whole lotta history.
31 King John
Top quote
“Life is as tedious as a twice-told tale/ Vexing the dull ear of a drowsy man.” (Lewis)
The plot in ten seconds King John faces problems from a rebellious nephew, Arthur, backed by the French king, not to mention the Pope, who excommunicates him. Alliances shift as Arthur dies and John is poisoned. His son, Henry III, comes to the throne.
What to say to impress This history play is all over the place: it was on at Shakespeare’s Globe last summer and Trevor Nunn is putting it on at the Rose in Kingston this summer.
32 Troilus and Cressida
Top quote “A good riddance” (Patroclus)
The plot in ten seconds The Greeks are laying siege to Troy. Inside the city young Troilus has fallen hard for Cressida, whose dad has defected to the Greek side. They vow to be together but when Cressida thinks she will never see Troilus again, she hooks up with the Greek general Diomedes.
What to say to impress The first of Shakespeare’s “problem plays”. Its cynical anti-war satire started to chime more with audiences after the First World War.
33 Two Gentlemen of Verona
Top quote “Because Love is blind” (Speed)
The plot in ten seconds Proteus and Valentine, two best buddies from Verona, end up in Milan, fighting over a pair of women. Cue banishment, mistaken identities, reconciliation.
What to say to impress Believed to be the Bard’s first play, this comedy is callow in the way it depicts young and at one point sexually violent men. Still, as Matthew Dunster’s revival in Northampton in 2011 showed, resetting the action in modern-day fashion-frenzied Milan, even sub-par Shakespeare still has plenty to offer.
34 The Taming of the Shrew
Top quote “Who wooed in haste, and means to wed at leisure.” Kate
The plot in ten seconds A father will let his daughter Bianca marry only once someone takes her stroppy sister Kate off his hands. Step forward Petruchio, who attempts to break her spirit with vicious banter, sleep deprivation, constant arguing, etc.
What to say to impress It can play less like a misogyny-fest if the couple are evenly matched.
The expert’s view “The best thing about it is that it inspired Cole Porter to write Kiss Me, Kate.” Ben Power
35 Timon of Athens
Top quote “Would thou wert clean enough to spit on!” (Timon)
The plot in ten seconds Timon, a rich man, shares his wealth with his pals. When the money runs out, though, they show him no kindness. He moves to a cave, where he finds a supply of gold, but he dies in the wilderness, cursing his foes.
What to say to impress One of Nicholas Hytner’s great achievements at the National was to serve up this little-loved play, relocate it to modern London, and cast Simon Russell Beale as the arts-patron title character.
36 All’s Well That Ends Well
Top quote The title
The plot in ten seconds Doctor’s daughter Helen falls for Bertram, a count. When she then cures the king of France, he offers her the hand of any man. She chooses Bertram. Bertram isn’t too chuffed about this and escapes to Italy, but Helen tricks him into bed with her (it’s complicated) and eventually gets her man.
What to say to impress Another of the “problem plays” according to the man who coined the phrase, Frederick Boas, in his 1896 book Shakespeare and his Predecessors.
37 The Two Noble Kinsmen
Top quote “Our reasons are not prophets/ When oft our fancies are.” (Emilia)
The plot in ten seconds The cousins of the title fall out over a woman they spot from their jail cell after they are captured in battle. Once they’re out, Emilia can’t choose which she likes more, so the boys fight for her. Oh, but then one of them falls off his horse and dies. Emilia marries the other one.
What to say to impress A late one, co-written with John Fletcher, and not a well-loved one.
The expert’s view “Like getting to see Ophelia behind closed doors, or Lady Macbeth’s deleted scenes.” Ben Crystal
38 Henry VIII
Top quote “No man’s pie is freed/ From his ambitious finger.” (Buckingham)
The plot in ten seconds It’s Wolf Hall. More or less. Cardinal Wolsey helps Henry divorce Catherine of Aragon so he can marry Anne Boleyn. She gives birth to Elizabeth I.
What to say to impress The last play to appear at the original Globe — because a cannon fired during a 1613 performance set fire to the roof. The theatre burnt down within a few hours.
39 Edward III
Top quote The Times tried, but failed
The plot in ten seconds Edward’s 50 years of reign are compressed into 18 scenes in this early history play.
What to say to impress Edward who? Well, quite: its murky origins mean it’s not always included in the canon, but it was in the New Cambridge edition of Shakespeare’s plays in 1998, and the RSC finally staged it in 2002. The company hasn’t returned to it since.
The expert’s view “It starts weak but I like the flair of a fascinating wooing scene featuring the king and the Countess of Salisbury.” Ben Crystal
Our valiant and most expert voters: Maria Aberg, director; James Andrews, author Shakespeare’s Guide to Parenting; Nick Bagnall, associate director Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse, director Two Gentlemen of Verona on tour this year; Kate Bassett, theatre critic; Michael Boyd, former RSC artistic director, currently directing Right Now at the Ustinov, Bath; Michael Buffong, artistic director Talawa Theatre Company; Ben Crystal, actor, author Shakespeare on Toast and Oxford Illustrated Shakespeare Dictionary, artistic director Passion in Practice’s Shakespeare Ensemble; Declan Donnellan, co-artistic director Cheek by Jowl; Dr Paul Edmonson, head of research The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, co-editor The Shakespeare Circle; Tim Etchells, artistic director Forced Entertainment, creator A Table Top Shakespeare; Daniel Evans, artistic director Sheffield Crucible; Elizabeth Foley and Beth Coates, authors Shakespeare for Grown-ups; Sarah Frankcom, artistic director Manchester Royal Exchange; William Galinsky, artistic director Norfolk and Norwich Festival; Edward Hall, artistic director Hampstead Theatre and Propeller Theatre Company (an all-male Shakespeare troupe); Rob Hastie, director (Henry V at Open Air Theatre this summer); Andrew Hilton, artistic director Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory; Christopher Luscombe, director; Kate Maltby, Renaissance scholar and theatre critic; Sam Marlowe, theatre critic; Dominic Maxwell, theatre critic The Times; Tom Morris, artistic director Bristol Old Vic, co-director War Horse; Jonathan Munby, director; Benedict Nightingale, former chief theatre critic The Times; Michael Pennington, Shakespearean actor and author playing King Lear at the Royal & Derngate Theatre, Northampton, in April; Ben Power, associate director National Theatre, screenwriter The Hollow Crown; Patsy Rodenburg, head of voice Guildhall School, author Speaking Shakespeare; Mark Rosenblatt, associate director West Yorkshire Playhouse; Josie Rourke, artistic director Donmar Warehouse; Barrie Rutter, actor and artistic director Northern Broadsides; Kyle Soller, actor The Hollow Crown: The Wars of the Roses on BBC Two; Rachel Tackley, artistic director English Touring Theatre; Ann Treneman, chief theatre critic The Times; Stephen Unwin, director, co-author The Faber Pocket Guide to Shakespeare’s Plays; Max Webster, director; Stanley Wells, Shakespeare scholar, general editor of the Oxford and Penguin editions of Shakespeare’s plays, author, Great Shakespeare Actors.