Jude Law's Hamlet Is "Aimed At Neophyte Audiences" Say Critics!
Filed under: Broadway Babies > Jude Law
The reviews are in!
And they're all over the place!
The new Broadway production of Hamlet, starring Jude Law, opened at the Broadhurst Theatre in NYC on Tuesday night, and although the critics primarily agree the production will draw a new audience to the word of Shakespeare, they believe Law's interpretation of Hamlet has been dumbed down to the lowest degree!
Ouch!
Just a few excerpts from this morning's reviews:
"If Hamlet talks about his mind, you can bet that Mr. Law will point to his forehead; when he mentions the heavens, his arm shoots straight up; and when the guy says his gorge rises, rest assured that he clutches at his stomach. If every actor were like Mr. Law, signed performances for the hard of hearing would be unnecessary… Mr. Law's undeniable charisma and gender-crossing sex appeal may captivate Broadway theatergoers who wouldn't normally attend productions of Shakespeare," - Ben Brantley, The New York Times
"If anything, Law starts out too overwrought, moaning and gnawing through the great soliloquies as if they were causing him intestinal distress," David Cote, Time Out New York
"Law’s interpretation… is aimed at neophyte audiences lured to the play not only by the star but with the added promise of a thriller liberally sprinkled with yocks. This predicates frantic nonstop action as flashy, frequently jocular and unsubtle as possible, and the devil, or the more sophisticated theatergoer, take the hindmost," - John Simon, Bloomberg News
Thoughts????
[Image via WENN.]
NOT LOOKING TO SEE IT MYSELF.
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OUCH
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a few of my friends saw it in london and they said he was really good! and it was sold out almost every night
…I think that it is a good vehicle for introducing people to Shakespeare, and why not? "Fortune brings in some boats that are not steered. "
You should post the video promo to the show because it is soooooo awful that it's great.
I saw it… it was very good, and the critics who spew that type of bullshit are so pathetic. Theater is for the people, and that is in the vain that Shakespeare wrote. I'm sorry not everyone is well versed in Elizabethan vernacular.
i saw it in london and i LOVED IT!
Aimed at neophyte audiences? I don't usually read reviews. Are they always written by pretentious dweebs?
I rarely agree with broadway critics to begin with. you go to see a story, not to scrutinize. bleh.
Wow, you really pulled the worst quotes possible. The show got a ton of great notices — like USA Today, Associated Press, Hollywood Reporter, NY Daily News, LA Times, NY1, etc. etc. I think Jude Law's Hamlet will be a humongo hit!
I saw the show a few weeks ago in New York and disagree completely… Jude Law was born to play Hamlet.
not that i understood any of the things that critic said but can someone pls tell me what neophyte means? (english is my second language so dont make fun of me)
That NY Times review was too funny.
Re: tinky – it means for beginners
Maybe the critics used words that were too big for you Perez, but these reviews were NOT "all over the place"….they seemed fairly cohesive.
wow that's gotta hurt!
Re: cixi – thank you
shakespeare is the life blood of the over-actor and no play is more suited to moaning, gnashing and gnawing than that of hamlet…except for maybe macbeth. jude law is the lawrence olivier of the neophytes and I must say, that's not a bad attempt on Broadway's part to encourage more trailer trash to watch something other than divorce court.
what i don't understand is why the critics are surprised it was dumbed down and why anybody who enjoys the theatre would pay money to see anyone other than kenneth branagh perform the title role?
if you're looking for subtle, see a neil jordan play.
Re: tinky – the critics were unimpressed because they felt that jude law's portrayal of hamlet was like 'hamlet for retards.'
and 'for beginners' is putting it nicely. mr. john simon from the bloomberg news is trying too hard to sound smart. who the fuck says 'hindmost'?
Law didn't aim his acting at neophyte audiences…he's just not that good an actor and has been overated for ages.
perez you are not being objective!
I saw it in London and will go in NY too.
I mean these Critics show the point of view of three people and just because they wanted to become actors and weren't good enough they ended to be critics! While they think he acts wired for me his movements were real and supported the lines he said. I mean there r billions of people out there. Everybody sees the world differently so why should anybody care what three people said!? It's their opinion…I think people should make their own opinion.
I saw scenes on Charlie Rose and it looked really good. Yeah it was physical rendition but still very intelligent and entertaining. I would go watch it if I could.
Who cares what these guys think? If people who wouldn't normally go to the theatre may go along to experience Shakespeare because Jude Law is in it - well, I think that's a good thing.
I saw Hamlet on Sat. and I thought he was amazing. Yes - he is gorgeous, but I really thought he did an outstanding job! It's Hamlet, it's not the most entertaining play out there, but he made it funny and sad. Go if you can!
If obvious actions on the part of the actor playing Hamlet help the audience understand out-of-date English, I think it brings the enjoyment of Shakespeare to lots more people. If people are going just to see Jude Law, they still are in for a good story, and may want to see more Shakespeare. That's a good thing.
I saw this in London with Jude law and it was the most boring two hours of my life. We all fell asleep. Forget shakespeare, this sucks.
And I agree that Jude Law's performance was complete shit and although I like over-dramatic performances this was plain stupid. I had fun imitating him for days afterwards. He spits whilst saying just about every word.
He's no where near as good looking in real life either which was disappointing.
Three of my friends and I were in New York last week, as we had bought tickets back in July for Hamlet…it was the only reason we made the trip. We LOVED the play. Jude was absolutely awesome in the role and every word seemed like a fresh thought from his head and not like overused cliches. And Jude was not Jude Law, he WAS Hamlet. I'm trying to find a way to get back up there before the play closes in December, because I really, really want to see it. And at the stage door….utter gorgeousness and generosity to his fans. It's a must-see for entertaning, engaging Shakespeare. I was completely engrossed in the performance, while the ranting of the critics Perez cites (yeah, one-sided much, P-baby? You totally neglected the opposing reviews, moron) left no impression on me whatsoever…I give them 1/2 star out of 5.