Humanities › Literature What Was Shakespeare's First Play? Share Flipboard Email Print Getty Images / Hulton Archive Literature Shakespeare Studying Shakespeare's Life and World Tragedies Comedies Sonnets Best Sellers Classic Literature Plays & Drama Poetry Quotations Short Stories Children's Books By Lee Jamieson Theater Expert M.A., Theater Studies, Warwick University B.A., Drama and English, DeMontfort University Lee Jamieson, M.A., is a theater scholar and educator. He previously served as a theater studies lecturer at Stratford-upon Avon College in the United Kingdom. our editorial process Lee Jamieson Updated January 17, 2020 Question: What Was Shakespeare's First Play? Answer: Shakespeare's first play was a history play called Henry VI Part II and was first performed in 1590-1591. It is impossible to be sure of the exact order of the plays because no definitive record was made in Shakespeare’s time. We do know when most of the plays were originally printed, but this does not necessarily reveal the order in which the plays were produced. Our list of Shakespeare plays brings together all 38 plays in the order in which they were first performed. You can also read our study guides for the Bard’s most popular plays.