Favorite Shakespeare play?

[Stop_the_War]

I'd have to go with Romeo and Juliet.

[Emboldened Chimp]

1. Hamlet without a doubt...

...no greater character in literature.

[SmokingJacket]

10. Ditto Hamlet.

Did you know he was fat?

[Huckebein the Raven]

2. I'm fond of Macbeth

[RevolutionaryActs]

3. Much Ado About Nothing.

I love it. L-O-V-E I-T. hehe :D

But I've been known to quote Hamlet every now and then. :)

[JimmyJazz]

4. Taming of the Shrew - it was sooooo bawdy!

:o

[Gabi Hayes]

28. no more sex threads!

locking/deleting

[tuvor]

5. I'd have to agree, although...

I'm also kind of fond of A Midsummer Night's Dream.

I think it might be because I really like the 1935 movie, despite the fact that Mickey Rooney played Puck.

[dback]

6. "Twelfth Night"

I saw a production as an early-teenager in Seattle at the infamous Bathouse Theater on Green Lake. They were known for their unorthodox stagings ("Midsummer Night's Dream" in a 50's high school, "Macbeth" as a Western, "Lear" done Kabuki-style, "Othello" on a 40's Naval ship, etc.) Anyways, "Twelfth Night" was set in the Roaring 20's, a la "Great Gatsby," and they'd interspersed about 10 vintage songs throughout it, so when Olivia was passionately declaring her devotion to Viola (in disguise), she suddenly burst into "He Loves and She Loves" and swept her up in a tango. Heavenly. Ever since then, I've had a fondness for that play.

[khashka]

14. Great choice!

I love Twelfth Night. I also love unorthodox stagings - saw Oedipus Rex done in Kabuki-style and it was mindblowing.

Khash.

[Bob3]

7. Hamlet

then Much ado -

I admire King Lear but it's such a bleak play that you can't really call it a favorite.

[Shakespeare]

8. Gotta break them into categories...

Favorite comedy - Much Ado.

Favorite history play - Henry V.

Favorite tragedy - King Lear.

[skygazer]

9. Othello

A story that is still so applicable - racial bias and doubt which leads to a tragic conclusion. It amazes me that it was written when it was - it's so contemporary.

[Reverend_Smitty]

16. I agree...

thats my favorite play too...for comedies, I like A Mid-Summer Night's Dream

[soothsayer]

18. I saw Patrick Stewart star as Othello and the reverse racism

made it even more apparent and palpable...!

That was done soooo brilliantly. Dude's a fine actor.

[TyeDye75]

34. Another one for Othello

Iago is a brilliant, if evil, character

[SmokingJacket]

11. What, no votes for Titus Andronicus?

I love the severed limbs bit.

[khashka]

12. Measure for Measure

Although I have a bad habit of quoting Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet at inappropriate moments.

Khash.

[Fenris]

13. Hamlet or Richard III

[CanuckAmok]

22. I'm fond of Richard III, too!

Particularly Ian McKellan's Richard...that was a pip!

[Lisa]

15. the first one I was ever introduced to was "Julius Caesar" ...

I wouldn't have picked it as my favorite until fairly recently -- but I didn't really understand some of the subtleties until the past few years in politics. My take on it is considerably different now -- Shakespeare did have a pretty good grasp of human nature, and I'd like to believe that he'd have seen this coming. I'd put Henry V as runner-up, for similar reasons.

[NightTrain]

17. "Hamlet," baby!

[PittPoliSci]

19. MacBeth.

My friends and I made a "modern" remake of it when we were seniors in high school, completely with drive by, lighting my friend on fire, prolonged fight sequences, bad editing, and a shovel-induced decapitation.

[Speck Tater]

20. The Tempest (nt)

[elshiva]

21. Toss up between Hamlet and Othello.

Love it when Othello goes, "Handkerchief! Handkerchief! Handkerchief!"
Most famous snotrag in the history of the stage.

[Gabi Hayes]

29. I saw James Earl Jones as Othello and Christopher Plummer as Iago

Plummer was astounding

made Jones seem small, tentative

if you ever get a chance to see him as Barrymore....

don't know if he's done anything on stage in recent years

[zann725]

23. "Shakespeare in Love" by Tom Stoppard (parodying Will's Romeo &Juliet)

It's on Bravo TV right now. It has all the poetry and sophistication of a Shakespeare play...and the fact that it shows Shakespeare writing "Romeo & Juliet" while living-out a real life R&J love story himself...is a wonderful story-within-a-story device.

No matter how many times I see it, I love it more each time.

[Seabiscuit]

24. The Merchant of Venice

[Robeson]

25. Too many to pick....

I'd have to say Julius Caesar, Othello, and Taming of the Shrew.

[mr blur]

26. King Lear

Shakespeare at the height of his powers. THE test for any actor of a certain age.

[WhirlyGirl]

27. Henry Vee

[Bouncy Ball]

30. Richard III

DAMN that's a good one. If you haven't read it or seen it performed you MUST.

[HamstersFromHell]

31. The Tempest

n/t

[NewHampshireDem]

32. Lear

Without a doubt, the most moving of all Shakespeare's plays. It moves me to tears every time Lear is reconciled with Cordelia ... then when he carries her murdered body on stage, it is just more than I can take.

[Rhiannon12866]

33. Tough choice. Probably "Hamlet" or "A Winter's Tale."

They all have their merits, for so many reasons. I am also a fan of "Macbeth," but my favorites are the histories. I particularly like "Henry V." :-)

[KitchenWitch]

35. MacBeth