The Best Versions of Shakespeare Plays
In my opinion, of course. Listed in historical order.
I have yet to see a good movie version of:
The Two Noble Kinsmen
Edward III
I have yet to see a good movie version of:
The Two Noble Kinsmen
Edward III
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- DirectorMichael HoffmanStarsKevin KlineMichelle PfeifferRupert EverettLovers' lives are complicated by city law, feuding faerie royalty, and... love.Theseus and his bride of war, Hippolyta. Theseus supposedly lived during 9th or 8th century BCE, but Hippolyta's sister Penthesilea fought in the Trojan War, at which point Hippolyta was dead, so I'm putting this play before Troilus & Cressida. The play The Two Noble Kinsmen also features Theseus & Hippolyta.
- DirectorJonathan MillerStarsCharles GrayAnton LesserTony SteedmanDuring the Trojan War, a Trojan warrior is distraught when his lover takes up with a Greek.Trojan War (1194–1184 BCE)
- DirectorGregory DoranStarsNicole AgadaAdjoa AndohAndy ApolloRSC Artistic Director Gregory Doran directs the rarely performed Shakespeare play set in the Trojan War in its first production in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre (RST) since 2006 when it played as part of the RSC's Complete Works Festival. Troilus and Cressida swear they will always be true to one another. But in the seventh year of the siege of Troy their innocence is tested, and exposed to the savage corrupting influence of war, with tragic consequences.
- DirectorTrevor NunnStarsIan McKellenWilliam GauntPhilip WinchesterSir Ian McKellen gives a tour-de-force performance as Shakespeare's tragic monarch, in this special television adaptation of the Royal Shakespeare Company production of one of the playwright's most enduring and haunting works.8th century BCE (800-701 BCE)
- DirectorGregory DoranStarsRomayne AndrewsAntony ByrneEke ChukwuKing Lear has ruled for many years. As age begins to overtake him, he decides to divide his kingdom amongst his children, living out his days without the burden of power. A proud man, he allows vanity to cloud his judgment, believing that he can relinquish the crown, but enjoy the same authority and respect he has always known. Misjudging his children's loyalty he soon finds himself stripped of all the trappings of state, wealth and power he had taken for granted. Alone in the wilderness he is left to confront the mistakes of a life that has brought him to this point.
- DirectorJosie RourkeTim Van SomerenStarsRochenda SandallMark StanleyDwane WalcottCaius Martius Coriolanus is a war hero, banished from his home, seeking to come back.
- DirectorJonathan MillerStarsJohn FortuneJohn BirdTony JayTimon loves to give parties and objects to friends, but when he cannot pay his creditors, his "friends" refuse to help him, and he becomes a misanthropic hermit.431-404 BCE (Peloponnesian War)
- DirectorRhodri HuwStarsSalman AkhtarSagar AryaJames ClydeTimon has it all - money, influence, friends. Surely it can't last? When the money runs out, Timon soon finds her influence and friends have also gone. Left alone, she flees Athens to take refuge in the woods, cursing the city she once loved.
- DirectorJames Cellan JonesStarsCyril CusackCharles GrayNicolas ChagrinAegeon of Syracuse has come to Ephesus to seek his son, who went in search of his missing twin and mother months ago. Unfortunately, Ephesus has just declared war on Syracuse, and will instantly put to death any Syracusean found within their borders unless a ransom's paid. Meanwhile, the son, Antipholus, and his servant, Dromio (also an identical twin), keep running into strangers who seem to know them...Set in ancient times originally, though this version is set in the Renaissance.
- DirectorDavid Hugh JonesStarsEdward PetherbridgeJohn WoodvineEdita BrychtaWhen Pericles discovers the dread answer to Antioch's riddle, he flees for his life straight into famine, shipwreck, love, fatherhood, and another shipwreck; he loses his wife and daughter, and doesn't find them again until the story moves us through resurrection, attempted murder, pirates, prostitution, and divine revelation.Set in ancient times.
- DirectorJoseph L. MankiewiczStarsLouis CalhernMarlon BrandoJames MasonThe growing ambition of Julius Caesar is a source of major concern to his close friend Brutus. Cassius persuades him to participate in his plot to assassinate Caesar but they have both sorely underestimated Mark Antony.44-42 BCE
- 1978–19852h 41mTV-147.4 (259)TV EpisodeDirectorHerbert WiseStarsRichard PascoCharles GrayKeith MichellThe assassination of the would be ruler of Rome at the hands of Brutus and company has tragic consequences for Brutus and the republic.
- DirectorNicholas HytnerTony Grech-SmithStarsBen WhishawMichelle FairleyDavid MorrisseyCaesar returns in triumph to Rome and the people pour out of their homes to celebrate. Alarmed by the autocrat's popularity, the educated elite conspire to bring him down. After his assassination, civil war erupts on the streets of Rome.
- DirectorAngus JacksonStarsJoseph AdelakunBen AllenKristin AthertonThe growing ambition of Julius Caesar is a source of major concern to his close friend Brutus. Cassius persuades him to participate in his plot to assassinate Caesar but they have both sorely underestimated Mark Antony.
- DirectorCharlton HestonStarsCharlton HestonHildegard NeilEric PorterAfter the murder of her lover Caesar, Egypt's queen Cleopatra needs a new ally. She seduces his probable successor Mark Antony. This develops into real love and slowly leads to a war with the other possible successor: Octavius.40-30 BCE
- DirectorJon ScoffieldStarsRichard JohnsonJanet SuzmanRosemary McHaleAfter the murder of her lover Julius Caesar, Egypt's Queen Cleopatra needs a new ally. She seduces his probable successor Mark Antony. This develops into real love and slowly leads to a war with the other possible successor, Octavius.
- DirectorElijah MoshinskyStarsRichard JohnsonMichael PenningtonClaire BloomCymbeline (Richard Johnson), the King of Britain, is angry that his daughter Imogen (Dame Helen Mirren) has chosen a poor (but worthy) man for her husband. So he banishes Posthumus (Michael Pennington), who goes to fight for Rome. Imogen (dressed as a boy) goes in search of her husband, who meanwhile has boasted to his pal Iachimo (Robert Lindsay) that Imogen would never betray him. And Iachimo's determined to prove him wrong.16 CE
- DirectorMelly StillStarsHiran AbeysekeraRomayne AndrewsGillian BevanCymbeline is a ruler of a divided Britain. When Innogen, the only living heir, marries her sweetheart in secret, an enraged Cymbeline banishes him. But a powerful figure behind the throne is plotting to seize power and murder them both.
- DirectorJulie TaymorStarsAnthony HopkinsJessica LangeOsheen JonesTitus returns victorious from war, only to plant the seeds of future turmoil for himself and his family.250–450 CE (Late Roman period)
- DirectorJane HowellStarsPaul Davies ProwlesEdward HardwickeWalter BrownRoman warrior Titus Andronicus finds himself trapped in a nightmarish cycle of vengeance, misery, and bloodshed.
- DirectorBlanche McIntyreStarsDavid TroughtonMarcello WaltonPatrick DruryTitus has returned from a brutal 10-year war having lost 21 sons in battle. Betrayed by his nation, and with his family in pieces, a series of bloody events follows as he and Tamora, Queen of the Goths begin a violent cycle of revenge. Rape, cannibalism, mutilation and murder are the gruesome tools in Shakespeare's bloodiest play.
- DirectorFranco ZeffirelliStarsMel GibsonGlenn CloseAlan BatesHamlet, Prince of Denmark, finds out that his uncle Claudius killed his father to obtain the throne, and plans revenge.Roughly 9th century
- 1978–19853h 30mTV-148.0 (666)TV EpisodeDirectorRodney BennettJohn GorrieStarsDerek JacobiClaire BloomPatrick StewartHamlet suspects his uncle has murdered his father to claim the throne of Denmark and the hand of Hamlet's mother, but the Prince cannot decide whether or not he should take vengeance.
- DirectorGrigoriy KozintsevStarsInnokentiy SmoktunovskiyMikhail NazvanovElza RadzinaAfter the death of the King of Denmark - Hamlet's father - his brother Claudius ascends the throne, who takes his widow Gertrude as his wife. Hamlet meets the ghost of his father and learns that he was killed by Claudius.Russian language