Poll: What is your favourite play by Shakespeare?

[lacktheknack]

I've read Julius Caesar (didn't like much), Macbeth (pretty good) and Hamlet (awesome) as a student. I've watched Much Ado About Nothing during a brief stint as a high school play critic (pretty good). And I'm starting King Lear on my own.

All in all, I like Shakespeare.

 

[PinkAngelKitty]

I really liked "Taming of the Shrew" but it is one of the most sexist pieces of art that exists. In high-school my drama group consisted of 6 girls and 2 guys... and it was really hard for us to find a Shakespeare play that had a cast like that. So We ended up deciding to do Taming of the Shrew with the sexism reversed ie "Taming of the Asshole" and set it in ancient Greece.

 

[lacktheknack]

Hamlet, why? Becuase the story is just plain awesome, the character of Hamlet himself is gloriously written jumping from worn nihilist to maniacal crazy person to badass killer sometimes in the same scene, and there are so many great quotes from it.

Also this

I wouldn't mind seeing Arnold in the throes of insanity.

 

[BlueberryMUNCH]

The tempest.
Don't ask me why I just do

...agreed ^^

I mean admittedly ive only read that, Romeo and Juliet, and much ado about nothing [which was pretty good actually, a close second]
But the Tempest ftw.

 

[Doom moose]

gotta be Taming of the shrew

 

[Lisolet]

I didn't like Shakespeare until I saw one of his plays live. A giant thunderbolt went off at my first play and I finally got it - yup, this guy is genius whether it's drama or comedy. It wasn't at a big name theater with big name actors either. In fact I think having big names would detract from the words for me. Just so long as they're good actors and an innovative director - the words will shine. I still can't read his works or even see a filmed play, it's gotta be live for me. I've seen many of his plays by now and couldn't pick a favorite.

If anyone is struggling to "get" Shakespeare by reading, I'd recommend going to see a live play.

 

[Buzz Killington_v1legacy]

Seconding that--Shakespeare isn't really meant to be read for enjoyment unless you're a sad geek like me. To get the full effect, you really need to see it being performed by actors who know what they're saying and (just as important) why they're saying it.

You also need to see a production by a director who's been smart about cutting the play. I'm a pretty rabid Shakespeare fanboy, but there are jokes and speeches that just don't work after 400 years unless you have several paragraphs of footnotes, and nine times out of ten they're not really essential to the plot anyway.

 

[Doitpow]

The Tempest, always and forever.

Graves at my command,
Have wak'd their sleepers, op'd, and let 'em forth,
By my so potent art. But this rough magic
I here abjure; and, when I have requir'd
Some heavenly music ? which even now I do, ?
To work mine end upon their senses that
This airy charm is for, I'll break my staff,
Bury it certain fathoms in the earth,
And, deeper than did ever plummet sound,
I'll drown my book.
-Prospero, giving up his magic.
This was in a period when most of the theaters in the country were closing due to the rise of Puritanism. The tempest was the last piece Shakespeare would put on the stage.

 

[Zomni42]

Othello, naturally. It has it all - tragic love, engaging, idealistic, nobly endearing fools of protagonists, and a truly evil-to-the-core villain, who also happens to be a thinking man, subterfuge, intrigue, jealousy, lust, hate...all wrapped up in Shakespeare's poetry. Brilliant.

I agree Othello is my favorite of Shakespeare's plays but not for Othello himself, but for Iago. He's an EVIL GENIUS. Somehow i identified with him more than any of the other characters. Take that how you will.

 

[Lord Beautiful]

I haven't read enough Shakespeare to pick my favorite story, but one thing is for certain: his writing style is archaic to the umpteenth power. It pains me to read his work. However, the story themselves are still really good.

 

[Yumi_and_Erea]

Much Ado About Nothing.

Lots of quirks and snaps, in his typical style, which I love.

 

[CrashBang]

As a student doing a drama degree I'm forced to read a lot of his plays, but university doesn't make Shakespeare fun the way college and high school did, so my favourite Shakespeare plays would have to be Othello and The Tempest, two plays I studied in college literature class and thoroughly enjoyed
Edit: ooh and Much Ado About Nothing!
Actually scratch Othello, I like his comedies best so I'm gonna stick with The Tempest and Much Ado About Nothing aaand add Twelfth Night, great play

 

[himemiya1650]

The Tempest and Macbeth is where its at. Also I really liked the 1996 movie of Hamlet with Kenneth Branagh

 

[Twin Of Aphex]

It would have to be Macbeth. I'am currently reading over Othello for the third time in preparation for my up and coming exams and i don't think i have ever loathed a book, like i do this, ever before.

 

[spartandude]

i quite like Much A Do About Nothing and McBeth

 

[photog212]

Hamlet is amazing, but I've always enjoyed Julius Caesar.

 

[Big Max]

I believe I would likely have enjoyed lots of his plays, but staying each page for hours in school killed every bit of entertainment I got from them.

 

[FalloutJack]

Much Ado About Nothing. Never in classic playwrite has wasting time been so funny.

 

[SnipErlite]

"Othello"

I like Othello. It has some witty moments, happy times and sad times.

I dislike it when every story has a happy ending, and Othello. Well. It just showed me how sometimes misunderstandings and things really do fuck things up.

Yeah.