30 days of Shakespeare: Day 9 – Your favourite tragedy

Just for reference, the tragedies are generally considered to include:

Titus Andronicus
Romeo and Juliet
Julius Caesar
Hamlet
Troilus and Cressida
Othello
King Lear
Macbeth
Timon of Athens
Antony and Cleopatra
Coriolanus
The Tempest

I’ve already written of my love for Hamlet and Macbeth as plays; but I retain a deep affection for Romeo and Juliet, considered as a tragedy, because it was the first Shakespeare I studied at school, at the age of 11, and it’s stuck with me. It’s a mercifully straightforward plot, not particularly deep or complex, but with a compelling story. I played Mercutio in the fight scene and died horribly. It was great.

Franco Zeffirelli’s 1968 version was the highest-grossing Shakespeare film of all time.

It was eventually overtaken by Baz Luhrman’s adaptation in 1996.

The 30 days:
Day #1: Your favourite play
Day #2: Your favourite character
Day #3: Your favourite hero
Day #4: Your favourite heroine
Day #5: Your favourite villain
Day #6: Your favourite villainess
Day #7: Your favourite clown
Day #8: Your favourite comedy
Day #9: Your favourite tragedy
Day #10: Your favourite history
Day #11: Your least favourite play
Day #12: Your favourite scene
Day #13: Your favourite romantic scene
Day #14: Your favourite fight scene
Day #15: The first play you read
Day #16: Your first play you saw
Day #17: Your favourite speech
Day #18: Your favourite dialogue
Day #19: Your favourite movie version of a play
Day #20: Your favourite movie adaptation of a play
Day #21: An overrated play
Day #22: An underrated play
Day #23: A role you’ve never played but would love to play
Day #24: An actor or actress you would love to see in a particular role
Day #25: Sooner or later, everyone has to choose: Hal or Falstaff?
Day #26: Your favourite couple
Day #27: Your favourite couplet
Day #28: Your favourite joke
Day #29: Your favourite sonnet
Day #30: Your favourite single line