Eddie Izzard’s ‘Hamlet’ widely panned

Well, it appears as though Eddie Izzard’s foray into Shakespeare has not turned out quite as planned. “An act of colossal vanity and hubris,” reads one headline. “Virtuosic but dull,” reads another. “A one-woman juggling act exposes the limits of Eddie Izzard’s acting ability,” says the third.

It was always going to be an uphill battle. Performing one Shakespeare role, let alone 23, is difficult enough. After the show was extended three times in New York, there was some optimism about Izzard’s one-woman performance. But it was not to be, with even The Guardian criticising the performance as having “little compelling movement or emotional purchase.” “Never mind the murder at the heart of Hamlet,” writes the Guardian reviewer. “This production feels like its own massacre”. Ouch…

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