Sonia Friedman Promises 'Timeless', 'Rock-and-Roll' HAMLET With Benedict Cumberbatch

Lyndsey Turner's production of William Shakespeare's Hamlet, starring Benedict Cumberbatch in the title role, will begin performances at the Barbican Theatre next month.

According to an article in The New York Times, fans are traveling from across the globe -- including New Zealand, Japan, and Russia -- to see the SHERLOCK phenomenon onstage. But producer Sonia Friedman is being tight-lipped about what Cumberbatch groupies, many of whom are unfamiliar with the Bard, will see in London.

"It's a closed room -- that's the process," Friedman told the Times, describing rehearsals. She added that the setting will be "timeless," with "very accessible, very entertaining" elements and a truncated running time. "I hope that, for those that have never seen Shakespeare, it will be really rock-and-roll, and really exciting, and that they'll understand that Shakespeare is as easy to understand as a television show or a blockbuster movie," she said.

HAMLET will begin performances on 5 August with an opening night set for 25 August 2015. The play is produced by Sonia Friedman Productions and presented by the Barbican for an exclusive 12-week run, concluding 31 October 2015. In the meantime, click here to check out photos of Cumberbatch in rehearsals!

Joining Cumberbatch are Barry Aird (Soldier), Eddie Arnold (Danish Captain, Servant), Leo Bill (Horatio), Siân Brooke (Ophelia), Nigel Carrington (Servant, Cornelius), Ruairi Conaghan (Player King), Rudi Dharmalingam (Guildenstern), Colin Haigh (Priest, Messenger), Paul Ham (Official), Diveen Henry (Player Queen, Messenger), Anastasia Hille(Gertrude), Ciarán Hinds (Claudius), Kobna Holdbrook-Smith (Laertes), Karl Johnson (Ghost of Hamlet's father), Jim Norton (Polonius), Amaka Okafor (Official), Dan Parr (Barnardo), Jan Shepherd (Courtier), Morag Siller (Voltemand), Matthew Steer (Rosencrantz), Sergo Vares (Fortinbras) and Dwane Walcott (Marcellus).

Set designs are by Es Devlin with costume designs by Katrina Lindsay, video by Luke Halls, lighting by Jane Cox, music by Jon Hopkins, sound by Christopher Shutt, movement by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and fights by Bret Yount.

As a country arms itself for war, a family tears itself apart. Forced to avenge his father's death but paralysed by the task ahead, Hamlet rages against the impossibility of his predicament, threatening both his sanity and the security of the state.

For more, visit the Barbican website at hamlet.barbican.org.uk.

Photo Credit: Johan Persson