The announcement of Britain's favourite play received wide press coverage this week and there can be few who haven’t heard that Alan Bennett’s The History Boys topped the poll conducted by English Touring Theatre.
The company has undertaken to include some of the favourites in its 2014 programme which marks English Touring Theatre’s 21st anniversary.
Following The History Boys came Noises Off by Michael Frayn. Fourth on the list is Arcadia by Tom Stoppard then The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde, Jerusalem by Jez Butterworth and An Inspector Calls by J B Priestley.
William Shakespeare appears four times on the list with Hamlet, Twelfth Night, Macbeth and King Lear in third and last three places respectively.
English Touring Theatre’s director Rachel Tackley said, ‘‘I want to thank the thousands of people who voted in this fantastic birthday present for English Touring Theatre.
"Over 1,400 plays featured in the results which is astonishing and speaks volumes about the health of British theatre and the variety on offer to audiences. It’s wonderful that two such glorious playwrights as Alan Bennett and Michael Frayn sit alongside Shakespeare at the top of the list.
"I’m very much looking forward to announcing how, where and when English Touring Theatre will be presenting the most popular productions across the country.”
The poll—from which musicals, adaptations and translations were excluded—saw The History Boys gain most votes from the midlands, east of England, the north east and the north west whilst London and the south east had Jerusalem by Jez Butterworth at the top of their list.
Hamlet won for those in the south west and Northern Ireland, with Priestley's An Inspector Calls topping Scotland's choice and Stoppard's Arcadia that of Wales.