Hamlet (Public Theater) NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (140)
See it if You want a Hamlet you can follow, relate to, empathize with. Not done in tights, at times not even done in pants! Well acted.
Don't see it if You like your Hamlets traditional, in doublets with flowery orations, scenery, big casts and lots of English accents. Read more
See it if You like seeing a modern or different take on Hamlet
Don't see it if You like a classic production of Hamlet. Read more
See it if You love Shakespeare, interested in seeing familiar plays in new ways, enjoy all aspects of theater
Don't see it if You are not familiar with the play - a lot of what happens in this production seems to assume previous knowledge and plays off of it.
See it if you want to see a modern , quirky, funny take on the dark prince of Denmark
Don't see it if want to adhere to a 'stay in the lines' interpretation of Hamlet Read more
See it if you want to see a modern take on Hamlet
Don't see it if you want to see only traditional productions.
See it if you like unconventional presentations of classic plays, and are a fan of Oscar Isaac who, along with the rest of the cast, is terrific.
Don't see it if you haven't read or seen HAMLET before - as you'll be hopelessly confused. Gold's staging-challenging even for people familiar with the play
See it if for Oscar Isaac alone, this production is worth it. He amazes. Some of the staging is inventive; it's minimalist and intimate.
Don't see it if the show is quirky in ways that are forced and unhelpful. The emphasis on humor is overdone: it isn't a comedy. Ophelia is very weak.
See it if you want to see an inventive and solid presentation of Shakespeare's Hamlet.
Don't see it if you don't like modern takes on classics.
Critic Reviews (37)
"Mr. Gold’s 'Hamlet' is filled with competent actors. They make sense of the lines; they reflect emotion; they put emphasis where emphasis is required. But you never feel they are living their characters’ lives...Without a riveting Hamlet, there is little the other actors can do to make this any more than a competent but insignificant production."
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"As terrific as Isaac is and almost worth the endurance test of a 'Hamlet' which runs close to four hours, Gold, whom I normally have a fondness for with his originality, flounders badly here...He has turned what is considered one of the finest pieces of literature into a silly, convoluted mess…Some of the other performers do not match up to the superiority of Isaac…If you are well acquainted with the play you might find yourself shaking your head."
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"Burton’s ghost is happy...What Isaac and Gold have crafted here is the closest we are ever going to get in the 21st century to that landmark production...Gold just focuses on the language, the narrative, and forming an ensemble that will fully inhabit the world of the play. He succeeds...Isaac's is fully as realized a performance as we are likely to get...He is surrounded by a cast equal to his talents...This is a celebration of 'Hamlet'...It needs to be seen."
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"Director Sam Gold is offering up a very intimate take on the tragedy...Isaac's Hamlet is more relatable and contemporary; he seems like someone you could have known at college or who works in the office down the hall...Together this excellent cast, under Gold's direction, takes Shakespeare's grand tragedy and makes it more casual, more personal, and still powerful as ever."
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"Gold’s ‘Hamlet’ has a simple, tactile charge, one that truly, in the least corny of senses, brings Shakespeare to life. The production is given extra, invaluable electricity by its star, whose crisply legible, fiercely intelligent performance confirms for me what I’ve long suspected: Oscar Isaac is the best dang actor of his generation...Gold’s production leaves us room to think, to really contemplate this revered play in unexpected ways...An invigorating approach to Shakespeare."
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