Lesser Plays

A sonnet I wrote for a competition, with the prize being free admission to a studied reading of Shakespeare's lesser known plays with commentary from one of the Bard's foremost scholars.

“To be, or not to be” is often heard
Like echoes from a tired and empty stage,
And frequently one hears the Scottish word
That puts some pious players in a rage.
We know the star crossed lovers take their lives
As well we know that Puck will make amends,
No question Cawdor takes the bloody knives
To lead him down a path of bloody ends.
A mirror up to nature Will has made,
But as a mirror, one can soon grow tired
To see the same reflections overstayed
Until one scorns what they had once admired.
Yet many works of Will are seldom shown,
And these, his “lesser plays” should still be known.