This comedy demands a balance between laughter and pain and needs a strong, all-round ensemble. Here's a handful of stagings to celebrateTwelfth Night is Shakespeare's most perfect comedy. …
The first revival in 100 years of Arthur Wing Pinero's proto-feminist, anti-marriage drama is shrewd and polished, even though it does patronise its independent-minded heroine"The play …
By setting this play in a modern African state, the RSC's Gregory Doran gave its debate new urgency. Which versions of Julius Caesar have you hailed?For all its popularity, Shakespeare's Rom…
Royal Shakespeare theatre, Straford-upon-Avon These plays embrace the whole range of human experience and the RSC's production is rich in psychological insight What are your favourite versio…
From Robert Stephens and Maggie Smith to Simon Russell Beale and Zoë Wanamaker, countless duos have sparred as Benedick and Beatrice. What's your favourite version?Charles I famously wrot…
The Swan, Stratford-upon-AvonUpdating this Jacobean play to the 1890s diminishes some of its impact, but it's a rousing productionThe RSC has had the bright idea of giving the new Swan seaso…
From Ben Kingsley's Ford to Bill Alexander's 50s-era staging, Shakespeare's only purely English comedy perfectly captures middle-class mores. Let us know the best versions you've seenI've al…
Young Vic, LondonAncestral memory and a labyrinthine quest intertwine in this extraordinary piece set in Paris and the Middle EastHow do you present the situation in Syria on stage? The answ…
Stylishly presented, but why Trevor Nunn chose to lavish such loving care on this rancid relic from Noël Coward is a mysteryI can't imagine Noël Coward's 1951 light comedy being much…
Halesworth, SuffolkThe premiere of Nick Payne's ingenious play Incognito leads an exceptional festival devoted to new worksIt's a sign of the growing prestige of this exemplary festival for …
Michael Billington recalls a feast of Falstaffs including Joss Ackland, David Warner and Orson Welles. Tell us your favourite versions of these state-of-the-nation playsKenneth Tynan called …
Lucy Kirkwood's Chimerica deserves all the praise heaped upon it but I'm sad to see The Scottsboro Boys coming away empty-handed Almeida theatre defeats West End giants Video: Watch scenes …
Young Vic, LondonArthur Miller's 1955 Brooklyn drama is stripped right back to showcase rich behavioural accuracy and high-quality performances Interview: Ivo van Hove Interview: Mark Strong…
Peter O'Toole, Patrick Stewart and Antony Sher have all made stunning Shylocks which versions of this problematic play have you been sold on?Obviously, The Merchant of Venice poses a proble…
On stage, the diary-writing teenager Adrian Mole was a joy because Townsend was serious about her single-parent hero and funny about everything elseI first came across Sue Townsend in 1979. …
Almeida theatre, LondonMike Bartlett has written a speculative play about the future of the monarchy that has the courage to ask serious questionsMike Bartlett has written a speculative play…
This enchanting comedy has been revived many times yet the play gives constant pleasure. Peter Brook and Michael Boyd's versions both had a magical sensualityI sometimes feel sorry for direc…
Mega-fame and limitless cash can turn a man into a monster, and Simon Stephens's new play excellently evokes its hero's spiritually shrunken worldNo one will be surprised to learn, from Simo…
Shakespeare's poorly plotted tragedy turns on the shortcomings of the Veronese postal service and is eclipsed by West Side Story yet the best productions overcome these defectsI once anger…
Olivier, LondonNigel Lindsay hits the right note, but this production lacks the farce that unlocks the pain within Alan Ayckbourn's fable Ayckbourn: 'I've never been a political writer: I'm …
David Tennant, Samuel West and Ian Richardson have all excelled in the role but Ben Whishaw's king was extraordinary part Jesus Christ and part Michael JacksonKenneth Tynan once referred to…
Park theatre, LondonWilliam Ivory's tribute to the men of RAF Bomber Command is a highly accomplished look at faith and wartime memories if overly contrivedThere's a patent sincerity to Wil…
Some take this story of the wavering king more seriously than others. Do you have a grudging affection for this unloved play?King John is an unloved play. Yet I have to admit to a grudging a…
Mickey Rooney, who has died aged 93, had a long stage career on both sides of the Atlantic. In this archive piece, originally published on 22 September 1988, Michael Billington can't help bu…
One of Shakespeare's most sublime comedies took Bernard Levin to the heights of ecstasy, apparently. How was it for you?Bernard Levin once said of a production of this play in Regent's Park …