Best Shakespeare Plays

This is our list of the best Shakespeare plays (Updated May 2020). We have included his complete works of 37 plays ranked from best to worst. Coming up with a definitive list of top Shakespeare plays was tough. Very tough. There were fights within the StageMilk ranks, but we are very proud of this list. We all put forward our favourites, and why we loved them, then we looked at other great resources: books, interviews and scholars. We asked teachers, scholars, actors, and directors and this was what we came up with. At the end of the day it always comes back to personal taste, so yes this is a very subjective list. But put simply: these are the plays we loved the most!

We wanted to make this list to help inspire actors to read more of Shakespeare’s plays. Though I think we should all read his complete works, there are clearly some standouts that we want to encourage actors to read. (It was also just really fun to put together).Everyone has their own connection with Shakespeare and it changes over time. The plays we love as teenagers sometimes become the ones we can’t detest later in life. Hopefully this list inspires you to think deeply about which plays you love, and why.

Shakespeare offers actors some of the most muscular and detailed text that you can work with. It is fantastic stuff to hone your craft. If you want to learn more about acting Shakespeare we have tonnes of great content on the site. But at the end of the day, reading his plays is one of the best ways to improve your Shakespearean skills.

Shakespeare’s plays are put on throughout the world, and so being familiar with them, and understanding the language, is an essential skill for an actor. This is our list, and a great starting point if you haven’t read much Shakespeare, but feel free to let us know what you think in a comment below. If you can read all these great Shakespeare plays you will be well on the way to having a deep understanding of his work.

Shakespeare Plays (From Best to Worst)

• Hamlet
  1
  

  Tragedy
  Written 1599-1601

• King Lear
  2
  

  Tragedy
  Written 1605-1606

• Macbeth
  3
  

  Tragedy
  Written 1606

• Othello
  4
  

  Tragedy
  Written 1603-1604

• Richard The Third
  5
  

  Tragedy
  Written 1592-1593

• A Midsummers Night’s Dream
  6
  

  Comedy
  Written 1595

• Romeo and Juliet
  7
  

  Tragedy
  Written 1595

• Julius Caesar
  8
  

  Tragedy
  Written 1598-1599

• Twelfth Night
  9
  

  Comedy
  Written 1601-1602

• Henry IV Part 1
  10
  

  History
  Written before 1597

• Richard II
  11
  

  History
  Written 1595

• As You Like It
  12
  

  Comedy
  Written 1599

• The Tempest
  13
  

  Comedy
  Written 1610–1611

• Much Ado About Nothing
  14
  

  Comedy
  Written 1598-1599

• Henry V
  15
  

  History
  Written before 1599

• Merchant of Venice
  16
  

  Comedy

  Written 1596-1599

• Henry IV Part 2
  17
  

  History
  Written before 1597

• Coriolanus
  18
  

  Tragedy
  Written 1605-1608

• Antony and Cleopatra
  19
  

  Tragedy
  Written around 1607

• The Winter’s Tale
  20
  

  Comedy

• Love’s Labour Lost
  21
  

  Comedy
  Written mid-1590s

• Measure for Measure
  22
  

  Comedy
  Written 1603-1604

• Henry VI Part 1
  23
  

  History
  Written 1591

• Taming of the Shrew
  24
  

  Comedy

  Written 1590-1591

• Henry VI Part 3
  25
  

  History
  Written 1591

• Cymbeline
  26
  

  Tragedy

• Henry VI Part 2
  27
  

  History

  Written 1591

• The Comedy of Errors
  28
  

  Comedy

• Titus Andronicus
  29
  

  Tragedy

  Written 1588-1593

• King John
  30
  

  History
  Written mid-1590s

• All’s Well That Ends Well
  31
  

  Comedy
  Written 1598-1608

• Troilus and Cressida
  32
  

  Comedy

• Timon of Athens
  33
  

  Comedy
  Written 1605–1606

• Two Gentlemen of Verona
  34
  

  Comedy

• Henry VIII
  35
  

  Comedy

• Merry Wives of Windsor
  36
  

  Comedy

• Pericles
  37
  

  Comedy

---

Note: we have not included Two Noble Kinsman or Edward 3.

I am sure many of you will disagree with this list, but I love that. I think Shakespeare means something different to all of us. But I hope you have enjoyed reading out list of best Shakespeare plays. We have a full listing of all Shakespeare plays, if you want to see an unranked list of the Bard’s work.

At the end of the day the more you read Shakespeare’s work the better you get at performing it. Here is a snippet from an interview with one of the leading authorities on Shakespeare, Damien Ryan. Damien is the artistic director of Sport for Jove Theatre.

Why Reading Shakespeare is Important