Episode 49 - Shakespeare's Lesser Known Plays

In 1996 Joni Mitchell released two compilation albums - Hits and the appropriately contrapuntal Misses - to show how even the most well-regarded of artists occasionally creates something that never really finds the audiences they might deserve. When it comes to Shakespeare, the Bard had a number of stinkers in his repertoire, including ones we've already covered like Henry VI (parts 1 & 3 especially), but also a number of later works that have never captured audiences the way Hamlet or Romeo and Juliet or Midsummer Night's Dream have.

This episode we're taking a look at some of those lesser known plays and asking the simple question: why? What sets these plays apart from the canonical "great works" and what lessons can we as more modern audiences take from their successes, failures, and experiments? So join us for a talk about Shakespeare's swings that didn't quite land with a resounding thud.

Ancient Bickerings:

This episode we discussed the question: which of the lesser known plays do you think is primed for a comeback in popularity?

Notes:

The Smithsonian Magazine article Lindsay mentioned has a great dive into the shifting understanding of King Lear.

There was no The Winter's Tale film adaptation, Lindsay was probably thinking of the Much Ado About Nothing version done by Joss Whedon in 2012.

Our list of lesser known plays, pulled purely from the ether without hard data or really anything to back them up:

Merry Wives of Windsor

As You Like It

All's Well That Ends Well

Winter's Tale

Pericles

Two Noble Kinsmen

King John

Henry VI

Henry VIII

Edward III

Troilus and Cressida

Coriolanus

Timon of Athens

Cymbeline