by Alex Storey

Created on: March 15, 2009   Last Updated: December 14, 2010

TRAGEDIES, HISTORIES & ROMANTIC COMEDIES are the three debatable Shakespearean genres. My criteria for FINEST is simply how often they have been performed by the RSC.

~ HAMLET ~

This play was released soon after the opening of the Globe Theatre. During Shakespeare's lifetime, it was one of his most popular works and it still ranks high among his most performed, topping the RSC's list since 1879.

Hamlet provides the ultimate challenge. It is Shakespeare's longest play, which would cause problems for any average actor. Once conquered it is then you can think about a mega bucks Hollywood career. Successful transitions include Laurence Olivier, John Guilgud, Ralph Richardson, Richard Burton and Kenneth Brannagh, to name but a few!

Hamlet departed from tradition. Plays were expected to focus on action, not character. Shakespeare reverses this. For example, Hamlet is famous for his soliloquy and the audience learns the characters actual motives and inner thoughts.

~ HENRY V ~

"Upon this charge Cry God for Harry England and St. George"

Popular because of patriotism in Elizabethan England when in 1599 the play was a reflection of a country uniting against an uprising in Ireland. Henry fought with the lower ranks as an ordinary foot soldier.

Huge cheering was reported at performances, like a football match these days as the audience liked to express patriotism and pride in their country. Few Englishman lost their lives in the Battle of Agincourt!

Superlative these days Henry V gives audiences a chance to say goodbye to Sir Jack Falstaff, one of Shakespeare's best-loved characters.

~ MIDSUMMER ~

"The variety of appeal inherent in A Midsummer Nights Dream is the source of its popularity" according to Stanley Wells and its frequency of performance in open air to which the play is particularly suited helps make it most excellent.

The play is much concerned with marriage, ending with fairies blessing upon married couples being appropriate for any era! In addition, there is a complimentary reference to Queen Elizabeth in Act II which at least two monarchs and their entourage have been particularly pleased about!

Midsummer is also Shakespeare's most individual creation, with only vague references to other works, like Chaucer's Knight's Tale in the form of a borrowed name. There is no main source.

~ A WINTERS TALE ~

For me, this play is unsurpassed because of the statue coming to life at the end. This resurrection scene has been copied many times since. We have all seen the snowman coming to life at Christmas and flying off.

Worzel Gummidge is a scarecrow that comes to life and this happy ending in Shakespeare's late play is fitting because of the biblical allusion to Jesus Christ rising from the dead on Easter Sunday.

Let us not forget Pinocchio who was carved as a wooden puppet but dreamt of being a real boy. He lives happily ever after with Geppetto at the end of the story just like the happy conclusion to Shakespeare's A Winters Tale.

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