What does it mean to “complete the canon”?

Q: Your author bio says you’re on a quest to “complete the canon” and you have four plays to go. What does it mean to “complete the canon,” and which four plays haven’t you seen?

A: Generally speaking, there are 38 plays in Shakespeare’s “canon,” the accepted group of an author’s related works. (Authorities disagree on the exact number. As modern scholarship reveals more about Shakespeare’s collaborations with other writers, works may be added to the canon.)

I want to complete the canon by seeing all the plays performed live. There are other ways to do it. For actors, it might mean performing in every play. For directors, it might mean directing every play. And some theater companies have completed the canon by presenting every play.

(A partial list of those companies was collected by the Folger Library in 2017. The Oregon Shakespeare Festival has completed the Shakespeare canon an astounding four times: in 1958, 1978, 1997, and 2016.)

When it comes to Shakespeare, I’m not the first to want to “complete the canon.” Eric Minton at Shakespeareance.com is a beloved completist, and his website is well worth a visit.

How do I know how many plays I’ve seen?

I saw my first Shakespeare play (Hamlet, of course!) in 1983, but I’ve only been interested in completing Shakespeare’s canon since about 2014. I think the Utah Shakespeare Festival planted the seed in my list-loving brain, with its project to complete the canon by producing all of Shakespeare’s plays.

“Being an unrepentant packrat sometimes pays off.”

My first step was to figure out whether I’d already completed the canon without knowing it. Wouldn’t that have been cool! As I dug into boxes of old playbills and theater tickets, I decided that being an unrepentant packrat sometimes pays off.

The answer, though, was: No, I hadn’t accidentally completed the canon. At that time, I hadn’t yet seen about 12 plays.

Once I knew which plays I hadn’t seen, I set out to see them. As I write this in February 2025, I only have four more to go:

(The photo is of Shakespeare’s Globe, London)

Can I complete the canon in 2025?

I hope so! I would like to accomplish this goal in the year Blue Mountain Rose is published. That would feel special.

Because I’m on book tour this year, and because I love a good challenge, I am also going to see if I can “start over” and complete the canon in just this one calendar year (yeah, good luck with that, right?!).

“Seeing every play in William Shakespeare’s canon performed on stage is a bucket-list achievement for his fans. Seeing every Shakespeare play in one year is a stunt.” ~Eric Minton

You can track my progress toward these goals on our Complete the Canon page. If you want to complete the canon yourself, download a list of plays here.