WHATSONSTAGE ANNOUNCE RESULTS OF SURVEY TO FIND THE UK’S FAVOURITE SHAKESPEARE PLAY – Hamlet tops the survey announced on Shakespeare’s birthday

WHATSONSTAGE ANNOUNCE RESULTS OF SURVEY TO FIND THE UK’S FAVOURITE SHAKESPEARE PLAY

Hamlet tops the survey announced on Shakespeare’s birthday

 

On William Shakespeare’s birthday, 23 April 2018, leading theatrical website WhatsOnStage announce the results of the company’s survey to find the nation’s favourite Shakespeare play – Hamlet leads the poll with 13% of the vote, narrowly beating Much Ado About Nothing with 12%, and Macbeth with 11%.

A mustplay role for any leading actor, recent productions of Hamlet have seen Benedict Cumberbatch take to the Barbican stage in Lindsay Turner’s production and Andrew Scott in the Almeida Theatre’s recent Olivier Award-nominated West End transfer, and will soon see the new artistic director of Shakespeare’s Globe Michelle Terry open her inaugural season in the title role. Mel Giedroyc and John Hopkins are currently playing Beatrice and Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing at the Rose Theatre in Kingston; and third-placed Macbeth has had two major revivals this year already – Rory Kinnear and Anne Marie Duff in the National Theatre’s production, and opening hot on its heels was Christopher Eccleston and Niamh Cusack in the RSC’s staging.

Chief Operating Officer of WhatsOnStage Sita McIntosh said today, “454 years after the world’s greatest playwright was born, William Shakespeare’s plays are as loved as ever. Theatres around the UK are largely to thank for this, continuing to celebrate the Bard’s work with world-class performances, not least the Almeida’s outstanding, WhatsOnStage Award-winning staging of Hamlet starring Andrew Scott, which surely helped it to claim top spot. Happy birthday William Shakespeare.”

The top 10 in the poll as voted for by the public are:

1.     Hamlet

2.     Much Ado About Nothing

3.     Macbeth

4.     A Midsummer Night’s Dream

5.     Twelfth Night

6.     Othello

7.     Romeo and Juliet

8.     The Tempest

9.     King Lear

10.  Richard II

The plays voted on in the survey were the 36 plays included in Shakespeare’s First Folio.

 

WHATSONSTAGE.COM is the UK’s leading dedicated theatre website.  WhatsOnStage.com is the trusted source for theatre information and editorial content. The website comprises comprehensive listings of performances nationwide, unrivalled theatre news, reviews, photos, interviews, gossip, blogs and features, as well as video and user-generated content.  WhatsOnStage presents the annual WhatsOnStage Awards, the only major annual UK theatre awards decided by the voting public. The company also runs the WhatsOnStage Theatre Club and hosts year-round events to major new West End productions, including post-show Q&As with the stars and creatives, which enhance the theatregoing experience for all involved.

WhatsOnStage Ltd was acquired in January 2013 by TheaterMania.com, Inc., a leading US-based theatre content, ticketing and services company. The merger of these two renowned theatre brands forms the first dedicated transatlantic digital theatre media group, serving the world’s two great theatre capitals, London and New York, and markets throughout the United States and United Kingdom.  In 2012 TheaterMania became presenter of the annual Drama Desk Awards, honouring excellence in New York theatre across Broadway, Off Broadway and Off-Off Broadway. In 2017, WhatsOnStage became a part of the AudienceView portfolio of brands, which fuel attendee engagement, ticket sales and advertising solutions for sports, music and theatre in 15 countries around the world.

www.whatsonstage.com

Twitter: @WhatsOnStage