Eddie returns to New York following last year’s sold-out run of Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations, which played to rave reviews at Greenwich House and in London’s West End. Hamlet reunites Eddie with Selina and Mark who collaborated on Great Expectations. It is produced by WestBeth Entertainment, Mick Perrin Worldwide, and John Gore.
In Hamlet, The King of Denmark is dead, and Prince Hamlet is determined to take revenge, initiating a cascade of events that will destroy both family and state. Eddie will be portraying men, women, ghosts, scholars, tyrants, courtiers, lovers, fools, and poets. She says, “I have always gravitated towards playing complex and challenging characters and Hamlet is the ultimate. This is a production for everyone, a timeless drama with an accidental hero. Selina, Mark, and I want audiences to see and hear an accessible, touching, scary and dramatic Hamlet.”
Though Izzard is far from a tedious host—she is, as she always has been, a uniquely enjoyable human being to spend time with—Cadell hasn’t followed through on her premise. Tyler Elich’s lights keep the audience conventionally in the dark, and Eliza Thompson’s original music—a dismal blend of low strings and horns that comes off as royalty-free “medieval”—gives us the feeling of listening to a live book-on-tape rather than engaging in a full theatrical event. Most discouraging of all, Izzard doesn’t connect with us all that much. Of course she looks out through the footlights during the soliloquies, but her Hamlet doesn’t really need us. She could get to the end of “To be or not to be” without seeking the answer in our eyes. Our presence—and thus the whole project we’re embarked upon together—lacks urgency. Izzard isn’t soaring to the text’s dizzying heights or dropping to its gutting psychophysical depths: She’s making her way steadily through.
In the director’s program notes, Cadell observed the importance of a cast’s fundamental connection to the audience in the shared experience of theater, both in Shakespeare’s time and today. Izzard makes that connection. For those not well-versed in Hamlet, keeping up with the changing characters and locales of the story could be challenging (so read at least a synopsis before you go), but everyone will surely appreciate Izzard’s singular talent, individualized portrayals, and engaging performance.
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London Revival West End |
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Broadway Transfer Broadway |
2013 | Off-Broadway |
Theatre Bedlam Production Off-Broadway |
2020 | Off-Broadway |
St. Ann's Warehouse Off-Broadway Revival Off-Broadway |
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Young Vic Production West End |
2022 | Off-Broadway |
BAM Next Wave New York Premiere Production Off-Broadway |
2023 | Off-Broadway |
The Public Theater Shakespeare in the Park Production Off-Broadway |
2024 | Off-Broadway |
Off-Broadway Production Off-Broadway |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
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2024 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance | Eddie Izzard |
2024 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Solo Performance | Eddie Izzard |
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