“Best” is a loaded word with Shakespeare. This isn’t an exhaustive list: with around 38 plays, most still being staged today, this list focuses on the 12 best plays for working with young actors. These plays involve big stories, clear stakes, and roles they can really inhabit.
Understanding the plays’ original context helps you stage them more boldly even today. Shakespeare wrote for open-air theatres like the Globe for an all-male company. There was minimal scenery and a thrust stage that pushed actors into the middle of the audience. As a result, language, movement and costume did most of the storytelling, not sets.
That spirit is close to Gitelman & Good’s own catalogue: character driven stories, purposeful themes, simple but theatrical staging that invites imagination rather than expensive spectacle.
How we chose these Shakespeare plays
We chose plays that
- offer clear emotional journeys for teen and young adult performers
- spark debate about power, love, justice, ethics, or identity
- lend themselves to flexible, contemporary staging
Think of this list as a map. Shakespeare can sit alongside contemporary scripts from publishers like Gitelman & Good, so students experience classical language in conversation with stories about protest, climate, gender and digital life.
Tragedies that still feel dangerously alive
1. Hamlet – doubt, grief and a role that changes with every actor
Hamlet was probably written around 1600 and first performed by the Lord Chamberlain’s Men at the Globe. Early productions used a bare thrust stage in daylight. Audiences stood close enough to be directly addressed in the immortal soliloquies, creating a personal connection between character and audience, while simple costumes and props signalled shifts from court to the battle field.
For modern students, Hamlet’s questioning of truth, mental health and duty feels uncannily current. Contemporary productions have put him in psychiatric wards, corporate boardrooms and, recently with the RSC, on a steamship set that literally tilts under the actors’ feet, mirroring the characters’ instability.
In class or rehearsal, you can
- treat each soliloquy as a mini one-person play about a single decision
- experiment with technology for the ghost and surveillance, echoing today’s data obsessed world
Pairing Hamlet with To Thine Own Self Be True by Shannon Chinn allows students to encounter Shakespeare’s questions of grief, identity, and conscience through a contemporary high school lens. By placing a modern teen inside a production of Hamlet—with Yorick quite literally talking back—the play shows how Shakespeare’s moral and emotional struggles still resonate in students’ lives today.
2. Macbeth – ambition, guilt and the horror of getting what you want
Macbeth is usually dated to 1606, written soon after James VI of Scotland became James I of England, and was probably first performed for the king. With witches, prophecies and Scottish politics, it flatters royal interests. Macbeth relied on trapdoors, thunder sheets, and torches to evoke the supernatural using simple staging.
Shakespeare’s quickest-moving play, teen audiences connect instantly with thriller or horror aesthetics, so many modern productions lean into these aspects. Short scenes with clear objectives mean it easily integrates into schools’ sometimes-tight schedules.
Directors can
- place Macbeth in a military academy, political campaign HQ or startup culture
- foreground the psychological cost of violence rather than gore
Read alongside Macbeth, Mick and Beth Rule the School by Nancy Kissam reframes Shakespeare’s study of ambition and corruption as a high school power struggle—showing how the hunger to rule can be just as dangerous in a student council as on a Scottish throne.
3. Romeo and Juliet – young love under pressure
Romeo and Juliet was likely written in 1595–96 and printed in a 1597 quarto that already calls it “often… played publicly.” At the Globe, the “balcony scene” probably used the upper level of the tiring house, not an ornate balcony set, and fight scenes relied on live steel and tightly choreographed movement in very close proximity to the crowd.
With its central themes of first love and family drama, it remains the go-to script for introducing Shakespeare to teens. Yet the play keeps evolving: 2025 sees a bilingual Welsh-English Romeo a Juliet where the families’ languages become part of the feud, culminating in performances at Shakespeare’s Globe.
For schools and youth theatres, you can
- update the feud to cultural, religious or social divisions your students recognise
- experiment with multilingual scenes, texting projected on screens or documentary style choral moments
Read alongside Romeo and Juliet, Unprotected Text by Michele Kushner reframes Shakespeare’s story of lovers separated by adult authority, showing how parents and institutions can still fracture young relationships—just through very different means.
4. Othello – jealousy, race and the stories others tell about us
Dating to around 1604, Othello was performed at the court of King James I. In Shakespeare’s day, the role of Othello (who was of African descent) would have been played by a white actor in makeup. Today, of course, this is no longer considered appropriate. A major 2025 West End revival that explicitly challenges racist performance traditions and stereotypes sees the return of Othello’s first black actor, David Harewood.
Othello’s intimate scenes in Venice and Cyprus underline the efficacy of language and costume to mark a sense of geography and status instead of expansive staging or effects.
For teen performers, Othello opens important conversations about
- manipulation and toxic friendship
- internalised prejudice and language
Like Othello, When Elvis Met Ali by Tom Schreck digs into how identity is shaped—and strained—by race, language, and the expectations of others. Through an imagined conversation between two public figures navigating power and prejudice, the play gives students a safer, contemporary way to talk about mistrust, internalized bias, and who gets to define whose story.
5. King Lear – families, power and what we owe each other
King Lear was performed before James I in December 1606. This bold play features a king dividing his realm on a broad wooden platform with almost no scenery. It relies almost wholly on simple effects - storms created with sound, fabric, and imagination rather than elaborate set pieces.
King Lear as a full play can be challenging for younger students. Selected scenes make for extraordinarily good material for advanced groups. Its core themes of power and betrayal still resonate today - especially against a backdrop of cost-of-living crises and intergenerational tension..
Directors often
Lear’s storm, able to be staged with simple tech, is a great way to show students how much can be done with very little, echoing the resourceful aesthetic in many Gitelman & Good scripts.
It sits naturally beside contemporary scripts about leadership, war or radicalisation, like the family and political dramas in Gitelman & Good’s line-up.
- simplify the political plot and foreground the family drama
- use elemental design – rain, mud, stark lighting – to put focus on the actors’ vulnerability
Lear’s storm, able to be staged with simple tech, is a great way to show students how much can be done with very little, echoing the resourceful aesthetic in many Gitelman & Good scripts.
It sits naturally beside contemporary scripts about leadership, war or radicalisation, like the family and political dramas in Gitelman & Good’s line-up.
Comedies that feel surprisingly modern
6. A Midsummer Night’s Dream – misrule, desire and pure stage magic
Written around 1595–96, A Midsummer Night’s Dream was originally staged in daylight on an Elizabethan thrust stage, with no scenery and very few props. Boy actors played Helena, Hermia and Titania while costume, music and the balcony space helped suggest woods, palaces and fairy realms.
No other play gives you such permission to be visually inventive. Productions range from muddy, acrobatic fairytale worlds to sharply contemporary queer reimaginings. Mendelssohn’s 19th-century music is still widely performed in concert halls and sometimes folded back into stagings, including orchestral events throughout 2025.
For youth casts, Dream offers
- multiple balanced ensembles: lovers, fairies, mechanicals
- flexible casting, including gender-fluid Pucks and Oberons
In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, characters slip in and out of roles as appearance and truth blur in unpredictable ways. The Goosegirl by J. Myles Hesse carries that sense of transformation into a funny, big-hearted comedy about class, kindness, and first love—an ensemble-driven folk tale where romance blooms, identities are tested, and decency quietly wins the day.
7. Much Ado About Nothing – enemies-to-lovers and gossip culture
Much Ado is dated to late 1598, with its first printing in 1600. It was clearly popular: the title page notes that it had been “sundry times publicly acted”, and later records show court performances in 1612–13. Much Ado often centres the dialogue, with early productions featuring a bare stage. This play fosters deep discussion about “slut-shaming” and reputation–along with the consequences of uncritically believing every rumor you hear.
Modern stagings often
- recast the war background as peacekeeping missions, office politics or media environments
- play with eavesdropping scenes using microphones, cameras or social media
If you use contemporary plays about gossip, cancel culture or online reputations from a catalogue like Gitelman & Good’s, students quickly see how Much Ado is part of the same conversation.
Gitelman & Good’s catalogue of contemporary romantic comedies and dramas can then pick up those questions about love, identity, and belonging in a modern idiom.
8. Twelfth Night – identity, queerness and festive chaos
Twelfth Night revels in Twelfth Night traditions of role reversal and misrule, with all female roles originally played by boys, creating layers of gender disguise even before the story begins.
Modern audiences respond strongly to Viola’s gender fluidity and the play’s exploration of desire that does not fit neat categories. Many recent productions centre queer and trans readings, or cast Malvolio as a symbol of repressed conformity.
For students, this is a great play to
- explore gender performance and costume
- stage songs live, giving musicians in your group a real spotlight
In Twelfth Night, misrule and celebration create the conditions for identity to loosen and desire to surface. Palm Tree Shadow by Lulu James echoes that energy through late nights, parties, and the surreal brightness of Disney World—a festive backdrop where belonging, self-discovery, and connection emerge in the midst of noise, laughter, and motion.
Its joyful chaos sits nicely alongside the playful but purposeful comedies in Gitelman & Good’s fantasy and ensemble-friendly collections.
Histories and late plays that open up big worlds
9. Julius Caesar – politics, rhetoric and the cost of “for the greater good”
Julius Caesar has the distinction of being quite possibly the first play ever performed at the newly-built Globe Theatre. A Swiss tourist, Thomas Platter, recorded seeing it in London that year. On the thrust stage, the assassination in the Senate and speeches to the crowd unfolded with almost no set, relying on oratory and the physical presence of the actors surrounded by onlookers.
Students live in a world saturated with political messaging. Julius Caesar lets them see how words move crowds, and how “doing the right thing” can be a trap.
In rehearsal or class you might
- have students stage Brutus and Antony’s speeches for different media: rally, podcast, TikTok live
- debate whether Brutus is a tragic hero or just wrong
There is also a rich ecosystem of contemporary reimaginings, like Malcolm X-inspired Julius X, showing how classical plots can undergird new political stories, much the way Gitelman & Good authors build fresh narratives on strong structural bones.
In Julius Caesar, words don’t just persuade, they ignite, fracture, and reshape public life. Award-Winner The Enemy of the State by Simon Bowler brings that same focus on rhetoric and power into the present, asking how loyalty, dissent, and political pressure play out when institutions decide who gets labeled a threat.
10. Henry V – leadership, propaganda and who gets to tell the story
Henry V dates to 1599 and likely premiered at the Globe, fresh from England’s real campaigns in Ireland. Shakespeare even includes a Chorus apologising for the small stage, inviting audiences to imagine vast battlefields while watching a handful of actors with flags and weapons.
Modern productions frequently question Henry’s heroism and the nationalism in the famous “Once more unto the breach” and St Crispin’s Day speeches. Directors highlight the common soldiers or stage the Chorus as a sceptical commentator.
For students, Henry V is an ideal case study in
- how theatre can support or critique war narratives
- ensemble storytelling, with many vivid small roles
Pairing Henry V with a contemporary play about activism, conscription or media spin to help young people interrogate the stories told about conflict and courage.First, check out a publisher like Gitelman & Good helps students see how big moral questions travel across centuries.
11. The Merchant of Venice – justice, prejudice and who the law protects
The Merchant of Venice was probably written in 1596–97. Stationers’ Register entries from 1598 show it was known enough to be listed among Shakespeare’s comedies, and textual clues tie it to news of a Spanish ship captured in 1596. The play circulated in print by 1600 and would have been performed on the Globe’s open stage using costume and language to evoke Venice and Belmont, with all Jewish characters played by non-Jewish English actors.
Today, Merchant is often staged as a problem play. Directors wrestle with its antisemitic context, sometimes reframing Shylock as the most humane character or exposing Christian hypocrisy.
For classrooms, this play can anchor units on
- historical antisemitism and how texts can harm
- restorative justice and empathy
Publishers like Gitelman & Good emphasise sensitive framing and age-appropriate context around difficult material. Using extracts from Merchant alongside contemporary plays about “the other” and legal injustice can open nuanced, supervised discussions rather than leaving students alone with the weight of the play. Gitelman & Good’s editorial philosophy of purposeful themes is a useful model here.
12. The Tempest – forgiveness, colonisation and the power of art
Cast away what you know about typical Shakespearean histories and take in Tempest. Based around an historical Bermudan shipwreck from 1610, this play was probably intended for indoor productions and features music, spectacle, and masque elements that would have resonated strongly with Jacobean audiences.
Ariel and Calibal are often interpreted in relation to race and disability in a modern conversation with today’s audiences, while Prospero’s Island becomes a space for discussions of colonisation and environmental collapse.
For students, The Tempest offers
- a compact story with clear, playable objectives
- great design opportunities using light, sound and projection instead of heavy scenery
The Tempest is, at heart, a seafaring adventure—full of magic, danger, and people reinventing themselves after catastrophe. A Shore of Abundance by Rosemary Pearl Moore carries that same swashbuckling spirit into a new world, blending spectacle, identity, and survival in a story where who you are matters as much as how you endure.
Bringing Shakespeare into conversation with contemporary plays
Shakespeare’s plays are scripts for real people - they’re not and never were museum pieces. When students understand how Shakespeare wrote for real people, audiences with their own social issues, it’s easier for them to see their relevance. The original productions were fast, physical and responsive to their audiences.
If you pair these twelve plays with contemporary texts that share their questions, you help young actors and readers make genuine connections. That is very much the Gitelman & Good way: give students stories that respect their intelligence, stretch their empathy and still feel playable on a school stage or festival slot.
To plan a season or curriculum, you might
- choose one Shakespeare tragedy or comedy as an anchor text
- surround it with newer one-acts or full-length plays from Gitelman & Good’s catalogue that echo its themes from modern perspectives
Students end up seeing Shakespeare not as an obligation, but as part of an ongoing conversation about what it means to be human.