No-one can question William Shakespeare’s ability to keep up with modern era (even from the grave): after all, there is even an iPhone app allowing users access to his entire body of work. Even if you haven’t read Macbeth or Hamlet, you will probably know the characters or have even been to see the play. But have you ever considered exploring the Bard of Avon’s lesser-known works? Well, you’re in for a literary treat – there are a number of plays which might be less famous but are arguably just as worthy of praise.

Shakespeare’s very first plays were originally categorised into comedies, histories and tragedies. Those that couldn’t be easily pigeonholed, as they dealt with too many complex moral issues, were given the title ‘problem plays’.

Love’s Labour’s Lost is probably Shakespeare’s least known ‘comedy’. It’s described as a problem play mainly because it doesn’t end with a wedding (a common criterion of a Shakespearean comedy). Full of romantic advances and witty banter in the name of love, Love’s Labour’s Lost ends instead with the King of France dying and the lovers postponing their happy ending. The final line, “You that way, we this way”, has often been used as evidence that Shakespeare had become wholly disinterested in offering audiences another happy ending and chose to create a more ambivalent finale. In 2000, Kenneth Branagh attempted to make the play into a film that was met with immense critical and box office failure. The fact that his chosen genre was that of a Hollywood musical probably didn’t help.

All’s Well That Ends Well is another one of Shakespeare’s problem plays, as it mixes both tragical and comical elements. A complicated romance, it includes mistaken identities, betrayals, repentance, snobbery and sexism. It’s also brimming with action: Bertram works for the French king, whom Helena magically cures of a terminal illness. As a reward, she gets to pick a husband – she chooses Bertram, who in fact seems utterly allergic to the thought of marrying her and runs away to fight in the war in Italy instead. In a further attempt to avoid marrying her, he sends her a letter saying he will not consider their marriage until she is carrying his child and wearing his heirloom ring (which is stuck to his finger). She then disguises herself as a pilgrim and goes to Florence where Diana befriends her. To make matters worse, Bertram has fallen for Diana. After Helena fakes her death, Bertram returns and soon remarries. He gives his wife a ring that was actually given him by Helena – disguised as Diana… Sounds complicated? The play is only about half-way through.

The Winter’s Tale, also considered a problem play, centres around childhood friends Leontes, King of Sicilia, and Polixenes, the King of Bohemia. The catalyst for the action is Leontes’ absurd paranoia over his wife having an affair with Polixenes, and his being the real father of their unborn child. A highly intense beginning is followed by some comic scenes, all leading up to a happy ending; on the way, we also get treated to some great lines, such as: “They say we are almost as like as eggs.”

Shakespeare’s late plays include Pericles, Cymbeline, The Tempest and The Two Noble Kinsmen. They are sometimes known as the romances and often feature relationships between fathers and daughters – some suspect this to be due to the fact that Shakespeare’s daughter, Susanna, had grown up and married by 1607, which was around the time that these plays were written. They all have immensely complex plot structures and are full of intrigue, crossed wires, secrecy, confusion, betrayal, lying and sibling rivalry. Many consider The Tempest, which encompasses most of these elements, his most skilled and intriguing piece of work.

This is just a brief summary of some of his less famous but equally great dramas. So the next time you’re in the mood for some Shakespeare wordplay – be that in print, on stage or on your iPhone – how about gambling on one you’ve never heard about? With this playwright, the chances of hitting the jackpot each time are pretty high.