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├óΓé¼Γäós 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.]
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