"Lesser-known "? I can tell that guy wasn't an English major! I've read every one of the plays listed in that article and, possibly, PERICLES is the only one that I'd classify as obscure.
A favorite anecdote: Many years ago, a friend was trying out for a game show (it wasn't Jeopardy, but it was a show that required some general knowledge and there was a preliminary test). As he was leaving the test area with a group of other potential contestants, my friend heard another contestant say loudly about one of the questions on the test, "I'm glad I'm an actor so I knew that MACBETH is set in England."
I've seen all of those, and most of them more than once. But, then, I had season tickets to Chicago Shakespeare for more than 25 years. Leaving that aside, I don't think it's even plausible to refer to *any* of the Henry plays as "lesser known." Some of them--Timon of Athens, Titus Andronicus, for example--aren't performed all that often (and, I would say, with a reason). We wound up seeing The Two Gentlemen of Verona twice in two years (once at the Stratford Festival in Ontario, once in Chicago), and that's enough for a lifetime. (The dog in the Stratford production, however, was GREAT.)
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"Lesser-known "? I can tell that guy wasn't an English major! I've read every one of the plays listed in that article and, possibly, PERICLES is the only one that I'd classify as obscure.
I took a couple of Shakespeare courses, so I've read them, too. But to non-English majors there are a lot of obscure plays, I expect.
A favorite anecdote: Many years ago, a friend was trying out for a game show (it wasn't Jeopardy, but it was a show that required some general knowledge and there was a preliminary test). As he was leaving the test area with a group of other potential contestants, my friend heard another contestant say loudly about one of the questions on the test, "I'm glad I'm an actor so I knew that MACBETH is set in England."
That's why it's often referred to as "The English Play."
He apparently wrote a play about King John and had the audacity to leave out Robin Hood.
Even the greats make mistakes.
I've seen all of those, and most of them more than once. But, then, I had season tickets to Chicago Shakespeare for more than 25 years. Leaving that aside, I don't think it's even plausible to refer to *any* of the Henry plays as "lesser known." Some of them--Timon of Athens, Titus Andronicus, for example--aren't performed all that often (and, I would say, with a reason). We wound up seeing The Two Gentlemen of Verona twice in two years (once at the Stratford Festival in Ontario, once in Chicago), and that's enough for a lifetime. (The dog in the Stratford production, however, was GREAT.)
You can't miss with a cute dog in the production.
TROILUS AND CRESSIDA is my favorite Shakespeare play. It's seldom performed. I've only seen it once, but I've read it a dozen times.
I haven't seen many Shakespeare plays produced, but I've seen that one, George. Odd that it would be one of the few.
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