What is the first play listed in Shakespeare's First Folio?

The first play listed in Shakespeare’s First Folio is *The Tempest*.

Published in 1623, the First Folio gathered 36 plays into three broad sections: Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies. *The Tempest* opens the volume’s comedies and therefore appears first in the collection. Its prominent position helped give the play an enduring association with Shakespeare’s late career.

Shakespeare probably wrote *The Tempest* around 1610–1611. It was performed at court on 1 November 1611, and its story follows Prospero, the former Duke of Milan, after he is stranded on an enchanted island with Miranda, Ariel, and Caliban.

The First Folio’s categories do not map neatly onto modern genre labels. Although *The Tempest* is listed among the comedies, its themes include betrayal, colonial power, revenge, forgiveness, and mortality; modern critics often call it a late romance. It was not Shakespeare’s first-written play—only the first one arranged in the Folio.