In Character: Shakespeare's plays

William Shakespeare, associated with John Taylor, circa 1610, NPG 1, © National Portrait Gallery, London

To mark the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare's death we brought together here over 400 images of actors and actresses in Shakespearean roles.

We currently have no recorded scenes from the following plays: All's Well That Ends Well; Love's Labour Lost; Pericles, Prince of Tyre; Timon of Athens, Two Noble Kinsmen; Troilus and Cressida. If you spot additions that we could be making, please email us at [email protected] and we will share them with a wider audience. Thank you!

Comedies

A Midsummer Night's Dream
As You Like It
The Comedy of Errors
Measure for Measure
The Merchant of Venice
The Merry Wives of Windsor
Much Ado About Nothing
The Taming of the Shrew
The Tempest
Twelfth Night
The Two Gentlemen of Verona
The Winter's Tale

Histories

Henry IV
Henry V
Henry VI
Henry VIII
King John
Richard II
Richard III

Tragedies

Antony and Cleopatra
Coriolanus
Cymbeline
Hamlet
Julius Caesar
King Lear
Macbeth
Othello
Romeo and Juliet
Titus Andronicus

Christine Silver as Titania in 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', by Bassano Ltd, 1913, NPG x102649, © National Portrait Gallery, London

Charles Kemble as Falstaff in 'Henry IV', by Richard James Lane, printed by Jérémie Graf, published by Colnaghi and Puckle, published May 1840, NPG D22325, © National Portrait Gallery, London

Ellen Lancaster Wallis (Mrs Walter Reynolds) as Cleopatra in 'Antony and Cleopatra', by London Stereoscopic & Photographic Company, 1873, NPG Ax28485, © National Portrait Gallery, London