Review Roundup: HAMLET Opens At Brooklyn Academy of Music

The Brooklyn Academy of Music is now presenting the National Theatre’s production of Hamlet at the Harvey Theater, following its original run in London. The production stars Hiran Abeysekera and is directed by Robert Hastie. Critics are weighing in on the contemporary staging of Shakespeare’s tragedy. Read the reviews.

The staging marks the first transfer under a new multi-year partnership between the National Theatre and BAM, bringing a contemporary interpretation of Shakespeare’s tragedy to New York audiences.

Abeysekera reprises the title role, portraying the Prince of Denmark as he navigates grief, power, and uncertainty following his father’s death. The production frames the story within a modern context, emphasizing themes of surveillance, privilege, and political instability.

The creative team includes set and costume designer Ben Stones, lighting designer Jessica Hung Han Yun, sound designer Alexandra Faye Braithwaite, composer Richard Taylor, movement director Ira Mandela Siobhan, and fight director Kate Waters. Casting is by Alastair Coomer and Martin Poile, with Georgie Staight serving as associate director and Shereen Ibrahim as voice coach.

David Finkle, New York Stage Review: Okay, in my attempt to alert future audience members, I offer this spoiler: Hastie keeps it in. (Abeysekera speaks it ever-so-trippingly). But whatever his reason for placing it where he has is foolish. There’s plainly no excuse for disorienting an audience (excluding those for whom this is an initial Hamlet sighting) with so much attention diverted to fretting whether “to be or not to be” is ultimately going to be or not to be.

Michael Sommers, New York Stage Review: Apart from Mills, whose live-wired Ophelia is a vital presence, the company’s well-spoken performances generally appear a tad disengaged, as illustrated by Abeysekera’s energetic though very self-conscious Hamlet, who seemingly thinks only about his own feelings rather than about anyone around him. Blood spills but the emotional temperature remains low despite ominous sound effects, skittering violins and spooky red lighting. Of course, Hamlet remains fascinating all by its 426-year-old self and as somebody remarks, the play’s the thing, and the National Theatre capably serves it here.

Austin Fimmano, New York Theatre Guide: Outside of Hamlet himself, however, much of this production is a fairly straightforward staging, albeit set in modern-day Denmark. But one directorial choice continues to replay in my mind. It comes back to Hamlet’s antic disposition and those finger guns he keeps throwing up throughout the first act. Just how in control is Hamlet of his own mind? This is the question Hastie leaves audiences to ponder.

Robert Hofler, The Wrap: A man wearing a white stocking cap is not the most eccentric aspect of the “Hamlet” revival that opened Monday at BAM’s Harvey Theatre after a run at London’s National Theatre. The headwear, however, does give us a clue to what Shakespeare’s famous Dane would have been if Truman Capote had ever played the role. The only difference, Truman’s cap would have been cashmere. Abeysekera’s looks to be pure Polyester.

Thom Geier, Culture Sauce: Abeysekera seems intent on shaving a full hour off the play single-handedly, even barreling through his “To be or not to be” soliloquy with such haste that it’s hard to believe he’s really reckoning with serious questions of mortality at all. The words rush by, and so does the sentiment and the sense of a connection to a character whose eventual downfall lands like anticlimax. This Hamlet doesn’t need vengeance. He needs Ritalin.

Average Rating: 64.0%