"Rebeck’s new play is so clever it uplifts, so timely it hurts...As Bernhardt locates the heart of Hamlet, Ms. McTeer the comedian becomes a riveting Shakespearean...But in the second act, after the big decision, the play loses some of its internal logic...'Bernhardt/Hamlet,' directed with wit and verve by Moritz von Stuelpnagel, is a deep-inside love letter to the theater as a kind of laboratory in which experiments in both art and equality are possible. "
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“What ‘Bernhardt/Hamlet’ perversely refuses to give us is a coherent sense of Bernhardt’s performance in the role...Perhaps Rebeck is afraid that Bernhardt’s take on Hamlet would look dated or worse to a modern audience...While it is sometimes ungainly, the play is amusing on its own inside-theater terms. Moritz von Stuelpnagel’s staging...has a handsome rotating set...and capable performances not only by McTeer, who is incapable of being dull, but a strong supporting cast.”
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“'Bernhardt/Hamlet’ falls into the gaping trap of the bio-play. Full of period frills and actorly flourishes, it fails to convey either astonishing mythos or full, authentic humanity. Instead, it fills its protagonist’s mouth with passé sentiments, ideas whose risqué gloss has faded, packaged as relevant and revelatory. The badass British actor Janet McTeer, for all her innate playfulness and power, can’t save this reincarnation of the Divine Sarah."
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“Rebeck’s premise is promising, but ‘Bernhardt/Hamlet’ fails to deliver...‘Bernhardt/Hamlet’ never manages to decide whether it’s a comedy...or a dead-serious play...The result is the worst of both worlds, a preachy backstage farce...McTeer isn’t interesting...You never get the feeling that she has anything particularly original to say about the role, which can’t help but undercut the whole premise...Would that set, director and cast had been used instead for another, better play.”
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“Rebeck’s spirited, funny new play...As ‘Bernhardt/Hamlet’ widens its scope to examine the very nature of art itself...things get talky. Very talky. There are witticisms galore, and a good amount of genuine laughs, but points are made and remade...Rebeck is too good at her craft, though, to let the play slip away. An Act II surprise introduces another strand of theatrical history, bringing plots together, refocusing ideas into new shapes and, finally, pointing to a new world fast approaching.”
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“The sublime McTeer plays the divine Sarah Bernhardt, who plays the immortal Hamlet...This is all interesting, even provocative, but what’s missing is some reasonable dramatic conflict...Under Von Stuelpnagel’s tightly choreographed direction, this solid cast of characters encircle Bernhardt like planets following their star. And blazing stars they certainly are, both McTeer and Bernhardt, yoked in a dynamic character study that, for all its shining moments, is no play.”
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“Despite many tantalizing elements and historical material ripe for exploration from a contemporary feminist perspective, Rebeck’s 'Bernhardt/Hamlet' doesn’t add up to a play. At least not a satisfying one...Rebeck is definitely stronger on dialogue than structure, but Von Stuelpnagel does what he can to keep the play moving...The play in most respects is a missed opportunity, despite the pleasure of watching the willowy, silver-tongued McTeer careen from high camp into righteous hauteur."
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“Brimming with ideas and saucy banter, it’s lively but exhausting, manic and overstuffed...Rebeck opts for a grand, multi-layered affair with lots of exposition, ginned-up histrionics, and florid speechifying. But there’s not enough narrative...Scene after scene blows by...some of it witty and deft—but the drama itself hardly rolls forward...On the plus side, it’s a bouncy, handsome production, and the actors a merry bunch...McTeer struts and frets to swashbuckling perfection.”
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