Hamlet, National Theatre review - turning tragedy to comedy is no joke

★★ HAMLET, NATIONAL THEATRE Turning tragedy to comedy is no joke

Hiran Abeyeskera’s childlike prince falls flat in a mixed production

The National’s latest production of Hamlet opens with a bang: a sureness of style, atmosphere and refreshing comedic effect, accompanied by a performer, Hiran Abeyeskera (The Father and the Assassin, Life of Pi), whose presence promises a night of sparky originality. 

The Motive and the Cue, Noel Coward Theatre - National Theatre transfer excels in the West End

★★★★ THE MOTIVE AND THE CUE, NOEL COWARD THEATRE National Theatre transfer excels in the West End

Gielgud and Burton battle it out in Jack Thorne’s backstage drama

Plays about the theatre tend to go down well with audiences. Why wouldn’t they? The danger is that they become too cosy as actors and audience smugly agree on the transcendence of the artform. Jack Thorne’s The Motive and the Cue comes perilously close to falling into that trap, but, in the end, its wider preoccupations with old age, change, and the perils of the new, make it a rewarding and sometimes even challenging evening.

Re-Member Me, Hampstead Theatre review - wittily staged but poignant lip-syncing

★★★★ RE-MEMBER ME, HAMPSTEAD THEATRE Wittily staged but poignant lip-syncing

Dickie Beau creates a tribute to past Hamlets, one in particular

Lip-syncing has become the hobby of many a young TikToker, but only an intrepid professional would contemplate using the technique to play Hamlet. Or rather, to “play” some of the knighted thespians and stars who have portrayed him. Dickie Beau is that brave soul.  

Hamlet, Shakespeare's Globe review - melancholy mash-up lacks chemistry

★★ HAMLET, SHAKESPEARE'S GLOBE Melancholy mash-up lacks chemistry

Scattergun subversion is undermined by psychological miscalculations

Hamlet isn’t often played for laughs. When David Tennant took the comedic approach in the RSC’s 2008 production, it was testament to his mercurial genius that his performance brilliantly conveyed the manic grief of a young man whose world was disintegrating around him.

Hamlet, Young Vic review - Cush Jumbo flares in a low-key production

★★★ HAMLET, YOUNG VIC Cush Jumbo flares in a low-key production

Youthful Elsinore reflects life in present-day London

It is a truism that every Hamlet is different, depending more than any other play on the casting of the lead. Each production moulds itself around the personality of the actor playing the prince.

Hamlet, Windsor Theatre Royal review - the age is out of joint

★★★ HAMLET, WINDSOR THEATRE ROYAL Leaping out of time from Gandalf to Hamlet - athletic thespianism from Sir Ian McKellen 

Leaping out of time from Gandalf to Hamlet - athletic thespianism from Sir Ian McKellen

So it wasn’t Cinderella but Hamlet who was first out of the post-lockdown starting blocks – Andrew Lloyd Webber’s much trumpeted musical premiere being foiled by a ping at the weekend.

'Shakespeare is mistakenly considered something for the elite': director Claire McCarthy on 'Ophelia'

Upcoming adaptation shines a new light on Shakespeare's famous tragic maiden

Ophelia is one of Shakespeare's most enduring characters in both literature and art, and yet her part in Hamlet is limited to few lines and fewer motivations. Based on Lisa Klein's novel, the new film Ophelia challenges this interpretation. Daisy Ridley stars as the iconic maiden raising above the petty squabbles of flawed men.

As You Like It / Hamlet, Shakespeare’s Globe review - ensemble emphasis sets a leaner style

★★★ AS YOU LIKE IT / ★★★★ HAMLET, SHAKESPEARE'S GLOBE Leaner ensemble emphasis

Michelle Terry's new company ups gender fluidity, charts new directions

There’s a distinct feeling of back to basics to this opening double bill at the Globe under the theatre’s new Artistic Director Michelle Terry. The elaborations (some would say gimmickry) of Emma Rice’s short tenure have been reined back, and a new concentration prevails.

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