{"id":3058,"date":"2017-04-26T19:41:44","date_gmt":"2017-04-26T19:41:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/?p=3058"},"modified":"2019-05-08T15:19:29","modified_gmt":"2019-05-08T15:19:29","slug":"top-5-under-appreciated-shakespearean-plays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/top-5-under-appreciated-shakespearean-plays\/","title":{"rendered":"Top 5 Under-Appreciated Shakespearean Plays"},"content":{"rendered":"

Top 5 Under-Appreciated Shakespearean Plays<\/h3>\n \"\"<\/a><\/span>

Written by\u00a0Ashleigh Gardner<\/p>\n

April 25, 2017<\/p>\n<\/font>

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Even though Shakespeare is the most celebrated playwright on the planet (not to mention in history), there are still a few of his works that get forgotten when his name is mentioned. Sure, we know about <\/span>Hamlet<\/span><\/i> and <\/span>Julius Caesar<\/span><\/i> and <\/span>Romeo and Juliet<\/span><\/i>, but the forgotten ones…those deserve some love too!<\/span><\/p>\n

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Merry Wives of Windsor<\/i><\/h4>\n
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This comedy about two women who are seduced by one man is one of my favorite Shakespearean plays. It isn\u2019t usually done by high schools or colleges because, for the most part, it requires an older cast, but its comedy lands with every audience. Sir John Falstaff (of <\/span>Henry IV<\/span><\/i> fame) attempts, fruitlessly, to fool two women, Mistress Page and Mistress Ford, into having an affair with him — behind both of their backs. When Mistresses Page and Ford find out, they trick him multiple times to get him to stop pursuing them, including making him hide in a laundry basket full of smelly clothes, dumping him in a river, and making him dress in drag as Mistress Ford\u2019s obese aunt.<\/span><\/p>\n

Find monologues here<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n

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Timon of Athens<\/i><\/h4>\n
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This play was probably authored along with Thomas Middleton, and it\u2019s one of Shakespeare\u2019s problem plays (plays that have elements of comedy and tragedy, but aren\u2019t strictly one or the other). Timon, a rich and naive lord in Athens, distributes his wealth at a banquet to people he thinks are his friends, but Timon soon finds out from his long-time friend and steward, Flavius, that his land has been sold, leaving him with nothing. Forced to flee the city and his creditors, he winds up in a cave with two prostitutes, a mound of gold, and a hatred for mankind. Even though it\u2019s not the same story, <\/span>Timon of Athens<\/span><\/i> mirrors a few elements of King Lear<\/em>: possession and sudden loss of wealth and power, a loyal friend, betrayals, and a drastic perspective change on the part of the main character. <\/span>Timon of Athens<\/span><\/i> is like <\/span>King Lear <\/span><\/i>out of left field.<\/span><\/p>\n

Find monologues here<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n

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Measure for Measure<\/em><\/h4>\n
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This was the very first Shakespearean play I saw live (at the Orlando Shakespeare Theatre, then Festival). Another problem play of Shakespeare\u2019s, <\/span>Measure for Measure <\/span><\/i>revolves around Isabella, a novice nun, and her brother Claudio. Claudio has gotten his girlfriend pregnant, which a crime punishable by death in Vienna. In order to get Claudio\u2019s sentence revoked, Isabella visits Angelo, a man ruling Vienna in the Duke\u2019s absence. Angelo gives Isabella two options: she can choose to sleep with Angelo and break her maiden vows to save her brother, or she can refuse and let her brother die. That\u2019s the drama. The comedy? A couple of scenes that take place in a brothel including the appearance of comedic characters named Pompey (a pimp), Lucio (a fop), and Froth (an idiot gentleman).<\/span><\/p>\n

Find monologue here<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n

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Cymbeline<\/em><\/h4>\n
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Though \u201cCymbeline\u201d sounds like a girl\u2019s name, it\u2019s not! <\/span>King<\/span><\/i> Cymbeline of Britain has a daughter, Innogen (or Imogen depending on the version you pick up), who secretly marries her boyfriend, Posthumus. To punish her, King Cymbeline banishes Posthumus to Italy and makes Innogen stay in Britain (Innogen must make an heir to the throne). The Queen, King Cymbeline\u2019s second wife, plans to set up her son, Cloten, with Innogen, creating a weird step-brother-step-sister marriage. In Italy. Posthumus meets Iachimo, who bets Posthumus he can seduce Innogen back in Britain. Through some scheming, Iachimo convinces Posthumus he\u2019s taken Innogen\u2019s virginity, and Posthumus tells his servant to kill Innogen at Milford Haven (where he\u2019s told Innogen to travel to). Innogen, dressed like a boy, then meets her two long-lost twin brothers <\/span>in a cave<\/span><\/i>. It\u2019s like <\/span>As You Like It <\/span><\/i>and <\/span>Two Gentlemen of Verona <\/span><\/i>made a baby.<\/span><\/p>\n

Find monologues here<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n

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King John<\/em><\/h4>\n
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My favorite character in <\/span>King John <\/span><\/i>is Lady Constance, specifically for a monologue in Act III, Scene 1 when she sits on the ground and refuses to move: \u201chere I and sorrows sit;\u00a0<\/span>Here is my throne, bid kings come bow to it.\u201d <\/span>King John <\/span><\/i>begins with a claim from France\u2019s King Philip that King John\u2019s nephew, Arthur, should take the throne (because Arthur\u2019s father, Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany, was King John\u2019s brother). That would automatically, according to the laws of <\/span>primogeniture<\/b><\/a><\/span><\/span>, make Arthur the next in line for the throne. King John refuses, and so France and England go to war. Bada bing, bada boom. <\/span>King John<\/span><\/i> isn\u2019t one of the most popular history plays <\/span>because he\u2019s not popular or heroic. <\/span><\/i>Plus, all the stuff that happened during his actual reign, like Robin Hood and the signing of the Magna Carta, is\u00a0left out.\u00a0<\/span>King John <\/span><\/i>may not be as entertaining as watching a hunchback\u2019d villain take over the crown, but the female roles in this show take the cake.<\/span><\/p>\n

Find monologues here<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n

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BONUS ROUND:\u00a0Two Noble Kinsmen<\/i><\/h4>\n
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A weird, warlike-nearly-Midsummer-Night\u2019s-Dream-esque play, <\/span>Two Noble Kinsmen <\/span><\/i>involves two best friends, Arcite and Palamon (also cousins), who must fight in\u00a0a battle they don\u2019t believe in. When they\u2019re arrested by the enemy in Thebes, they see the Athenian princess Emilia outside their prison window and both fall instantly in love with her. The men turn into bitter rivals, and when Arcite escapes prison, he wins a wrestling match. His reward? Becoming Emilia\u2019s bodyguard. The jailer\u2019s daughter who has fallen in love with Palamon helps free him. Palamon chases Emilia and Arcite into the woods, and the jailer\u2019s daughter goes mad when Palamon rejects her. The play ends with a funeral and a wedding in true problem play fashion. A mashup of\u00a0Two Gentlemen of Verona\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0A Midsummer Night’s Dream.\u00a0<\/em>Except somebody dies at the end.<\/span><\/p>\n

Find monologues here<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n
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More Shakespeare? Yes, please!<\/h3>\n