William Shakespeare
Shakespeare's plays – as you like them

The best Shakespeare productions – picked by Michael Billington and you

In the runup to the 450th anniversary of Shakespeare's birth, we're revisiting all of his plays and choosing our favourite versions on stage, film and TV. What are yours?
Laurence Olivier as Hamlet in the 1948 film
One of the great Danes? Laurence Olivier as Hamlet in the 1948 film. Photograph: Ronald Grant Archive

To celebrate Shakespeare's 450th anniversary, I've selected vintage productions and performances from my theatregoing lifetime. The basic criteria are simple. Did a production change one's perspective on the play? Did a particular performance brand itself on the memory? My focus is mainly, but not exclusively, on the British stage. But I've learned a lot from visiting foreign productions and, obviously, from seeing Shakespeare on film and television. My list, which over the next month will embrace the entire Shakespeare canon, is nothing if not personal. I start with a trio of popular favourites before tackling the plays in rough order of composition. I'm keen to know what your choice of great productions and performances would be.

• As You Like It – choose your favourite productions

• Henry V – choose your favourite productions

• Macbeth – choose your favourite productions