Hamlet (Public Theater) NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (140)
See it if You like hilarious acting interesting staging and unorthodox Shakespeare.
Don't see it if You like strictly classic Shakespeare
See it if You would like to see an amazing actor playing Hamlet, with two other great actors in an unusual and funny production.
Don't see it if You don't want to see an excellent creative Hamlet.
See it if You are interested in a unique staging of Hamlet by Sam Gold. The wonderful cast,performing in a semi-circle,are always in close contact.
Don't see it if You can't tolerate a play of 4 hours duration,including 2 ten minute intermissions. It is worth the trip to see Oscar Isaac and the cast.
See it if you want to see Oscar Issac's amazing performance.
Don't see it if you don't enjoy modern interpretations.
See it if you like your Bard bare and modern or you want two see a great set of actors playing to their strengths in a classic work.
Don't see it if you want a splashy production or don't know anything about the play. It is not for beginners.
See it if San Gold goes Ivo van Hove in terrific production in intimate Public Theater space with great cast and outstanding Oscar Isaac,Key & Rankin
Don't see it if You need standard full theatrical production with no modern flourishes or music or modern dress; This one really works even with length
See it if Oliver Issac and company. Intimate setting. Shakespeare.
Don't see it if Modern production is unnerving
See it if Gold's stripped down & often very funny production humanizes characters as does Oscar's powerful performance of Hamlet as Everyman
Don't see it if Gold's naturalistic shtick drains this great tragedy of grandeur and pathos; key Claudius & Gertrude performances are meh Read more
Critic Reviews (37)
"This production is distinguished by a bracing tour-de-force performance of Isaac...How challenging it is to find something new and resonant in these well-known lines for both actors and director, yet this 'Hamlet' does it...There are some odd gaps in the production...But Isaac’s arresting performance means that we stay rapt until Hamlet’s very last breath, and Shakespeare’s very last word. It is a long evening for sure, but also a beguilingly off-kilter, rewardingly rich one."
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"Gold is exorcising demons of cliché and supposition from Shakespeare’s most frequently staged tragedy...The physical environment suggests a rehearsal space. That approach...discourages the audience from engaging with the performance on a level that’s more emotional than intellectual...The important news is that none of Gold’s cheeky innovations get in the way of his fine actors performing this familiar yet ever-challenging Shakespearean text with urgency, clarity, and insight."
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"An intriguing, if not always riveting, four hours. The evening unfolds in fits and starts, and the best way to approach this 'Hamlet' is to sit back and enjoy the outrageousness. When Gold’s imagination fails him during most of the Bard’s soliloquies, you can listen to the poetry and simply wait for the director’s invention to return. It does, and gathers force in the second half."
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"Despite his production’s mobbed-up look, Gold ultimately sticks to a traditional, textually focused reading of the play...Isaac acquits himself adequately in the part, but there’s nothing distinctive about his Hamlet...While the rest of the cast all deliver their lines with undoubted skill, only Friedman displays absolute command of Shakespeare’s language, using colloquial rhythms to make every word sound fresh and vital."
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"This is a sometimes confusing, endlessly interesting staging that is full of color and scent...The vivid and fully inhabited performances—especially from Isaac—make for a stellar distraction from the challenging matters of staging...Viewed as a vehicle for memorable performances, this is an awesome 'Hamlet'—just note, it’s not a remotely 'classic' one."
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"A stripped-down, ultra-modern take...Whether this sort of thing is your thing depends, ultimately, on your taste for willful eccentricity and 'edginess.' Personally I found considerable aspects of it arresting, especially Isaac's jittery, live-wire take on the title role...On the other hand, at nearly four hours -- and with so little variation in the visual design -- this 'Hamlet' eventually turns tiresome. Too many of Gold's directorial flourishes feel like shtick."
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"Isaac’s performance is the high point of this inventive, exhaustive production...This modern, minimalist staging runs for three hours and 45 minutes and rarely rarely lags. Call it the Grunge Hamlet...What’s remarkable is how successfully the play’s tragic elements coexist with clowning...At times Gold’s clever set pieces overwhelm Shakespeare’s words. But the pictures he creates are unforgettable...None of the experimental excesses can take away from the power of Isaac’s portrayal."
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"Gold can’t decide what he most wants his production to do...Each of Gold’s tactics has its reasons...The problem is that Gold’s many devices don’t mix well together; their diversity of effects gives the evening a jumble, or at best a sort of tasting menu, of concepts, instead of a unified approach...This directorial mix-and-match has unhelpful effects on Isaac’s performance, which might, in a better-sustained context, have been genuinely exciting."
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