Once again this week I got into the “See it, don’t read it!” debate with someone, and my faithful readers know that I weigh in on the “read it” side of this argument for the following very simple reason:
“Hey, I don’t know anything about Richard III, I think I’ll read it.”
“Don’t read it, go see it!”
“Oh, ok. Is it playing?”
“…well, no.”
And then people immediately jump into the defense of going to rent a DVD, even though you all know perfectly well that if there was a choice between seeing it live on stage and seeing a movie version, you wouldn’t even have to think about it. You only support movies because you know that “go see it as it was meant to be seen” is not a realistic argument, and you’ll accept movies as a substitute.
But, I’m not here to make the argument again. I want to try something. Tell me, in the comments, which Shakespeare plays you have seen on stage?
I’ve seen: Hamlet, Lear, Macbeth, Othello, R+J, Shrew, AYLI, All’s Well, Dream, Much Ado, Comedy of Errors, LLL, Tempest, Winter’s Tale.
14 plays. You’ll notice that the histories are sadly underrepresented. Now, with more effort I’m sure I could add maybe half a dozen plays to that list, but that still only puts me in the range of about half. I’d make the case that the only way I’m ever going to see some of those plays is if I make it a primary goal in my life to do so, and am willing to travel extensively to make it happen.
Most people in the world will never have the opportunity to see most of Shakespeare’s plays on stage. Every single literate person in the world has the opportunity to read them.
TL;DR – Read King John.
List of plays that we've seen?
We saw Classic Stage's Midsummer last evening (with Anthony Heald, Bebe Neuwirth, et al.)
But in the last several years we've seen:
All's Well That Ends Well
As You Like It
The Comedy of Errors
Love's Labour's Lost
Measure for Measure
The Merchant of Venice
The Merry Wives of Windsor
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Much Ado About Nothing
The Taming of the Shrew
The Tempest
Twelfth Night
The Two Gentlemen of Verona
The Two Noble Kinsmen
The Winter's Tale
Henry IV, Part 1
Henry IV, Part 2
Henry V
Henry VI, Part 1
Henry VI, Part 2
Henry VI, Part 3
Richard III
Romeo and Juliet
Coriolanus
Titus Andronicus
Julius Caesar
Macbeth
Hamlet
King Lear
Othello
Antony and Cleopatra
Cymbeline
All RSC
Julius Ceasar x 2
Hamlet
Loves labours Lost
The Tempest
Twelfth Night
Romeo and Juliet
Merchant of Venice
The Globe
King Lear
Timon of Athens
Other
Twelfth Night x 2
Antony and Cleopatra
As You Like It
The Comedy of Errors
Edward III
Hamlet
Henry IV, Part 1
Henry IV, Part 2
Henry V
Julius Caesar
King Lear
Love's Labour's Lost
Macbeth
Measure for Measure
The Merchant of Venice
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Much Ado About Nothing
Othello
Richard II
Richard III
Romeo and Juliet
The Taming of the Shrew
The Tempest
Titus Andronicus
Twelfth Night
The Two Gentlemen of Verona
The Winter's Tale
But only if we're counting shows I've been in as well.
This is almost cheating when you work at a Shakespeare theatre. 😉
I *have* seen, live, full-length, and in person: All's Well (x2), AYLI (x3, I think), Comedy of Errors (x2), Cymbeline, Measure (x2), Midsummer (x many), Much Ado (x12, at least), Pericles (x2), Taming (x3?), Tempest, 12th Night (x4?), Two Gents (x3), Winter's Tale; Antony & Cleopatra, Hamlet (x several), Lear (x3?), Macbeth (x many), Othello (x2), Romeo and Juliet (x many), Timon of Athens, Titus (x 3?); and all 10 histories (several more than once)!
I have seen, on video or in a shortened form (1 hour version in our youth summer camps): Love's Labour's Lost, Troilus & Cressida, Julius Caesar.
I have not seen: Merry Wives, Merchant, Coriolanus.
And of those I haven't seen or haven't seen in full form, I'll get to see 3 of them in the upcoming year. 🙂
I sort of wish I'd kept a better list starting when I was younger — Mom and I used to do these summer Shakespeare tours, where we'd hit pretty much everything playing in Virginia over the summer, but my memory fails me as to how many times I've seen some of the more popular ones.
I've seen 16:
– Antony and Cleopatra
– As You Like It
– Cymbeline
– Hamlet
– Henry V
– Julius Caesar
– Macbeth
– Merchant of Venice
– A Midsummer Night's Dream
– Much Ado about Nothing
– Othello
– Richard III
– Romeo and Juliet
– The Tempest
– Twelfth Night
– Two Gentlemen of Verona
I have acted in 4:
– The Comedy of Errors (Luciana)
– King John (Eleanor/Salisbury)
– Macbeth (Lady Macbeth)
– The Winter's Tale (twice: Paulina & Perdita)
I have done scenes from 11:
– All's Well That Ends Well (Diana)
– As You Like It (Rosalind)
– Comedy of Errors (Adriana)
– Cymbeline (Imogen)
– Hamlet (Ophelia)
– King Lear (Goneril)
– Love's Labours Lost (Princess of France)
– Richard III (Elizabeth)
– Romeo and Juliet (Juliet)
– Twelfth Night (Viola)
– Two Gentlemen of Verona (Julia)
Not a ton yet… But I plan to live long enough to see and be in them all. 😉
I've been very fortunate, especially since I live in the D.C. area, home to the Shakespeare Theatre and Folger Shakespeare Library. I've seen:
A Midsummer Night's Dream (3 times)
As You Like It (2 times)
Much Ado About Nothing
Anthony and Cleopatra
Hamlet (2 times)
Cymbeline
Richard III (2 times)
Henry V
All's Well That Ends Well
The Comedy of Errors
Love's Labour's Lost
The Tempest
The Taming of the Shrew
Measure for Measure
The Merry Wives of Windsor
Romeo and Juliet
I have seen:
Julius Caesar
King Lear
Hamlet
Macbeth
Othello
Romeo and Juliet
Antony and Cleopatra
Coriolanus
Pericles
Merchant of Venice
Twelfth Night
Alls Well
Tempest
Richard II
Richard III
Henry IV pt 1 & 2 (squashed together)–great Falstaff by Kevin Kline
Seen:
The Tempest (twice)
Twelfth Night (twice)
The Taming of the Shrew
The Comedy of Errors
Macbeth
Romeo and Juliet
A Midsummer Night's Dream
That's all I can think of. I'm pretty sure I'm forgetting one. I guess I should include plays I've been in, too.
Acted in:
A scene from Two Gentlemen of Verona (Launce, I think, but I was like 7 and I don't really remember)
The Merry Wives of Windsor (random extra townsperson)
The Comedy of Errors (Egeon and Second Merchant and Dr. Pinch)
Romeo and Juliet (Tybalt)
A Midsummer Night's Dream (Hermia)
Twelfth Night (Maria)
Hamlet (Ophelia)
I haven't seen too many yet, but one of my life goals is to see and read all of them 🙂
Seen:
Macbeth
As You Like It
Much Ado About Nothing
Romeo and Juliet
Hamlet
Been in:
Hamlet: Francisco
Twelfth Night: Captain
Much Ado About Nothing: Beatrice