The Performance: Eddie Izzard's Hamlet
The Space: The Fairfax Studio at the Arts Centre
Until July 12 (Limited tickets available)
Runtime: 2 hours 15 minutes with an interval
Stars: 5
"Tell your friends, get on the socials. Let them know there's a trans woman doing Hamlet. It's gotta be pissing somebody off somewhere." These were Suzy Izzard's parting words.
Them's fighting words. Good on her.
Suzy, as she likes to be known, along with using she/her pronouns, is phenomenal this a one woman working of the Bard's seminal play.
Yes, a solo show where the performer takes on Hamlet. Who knew?
This was mesmerising.
Regular visitors to this blog know that I'm a Shakespeare boffin. I've probably seen Hamlet a dozen times over the years. I love a good lugubrious Dane taking arms against the sea of a family shit show (see what I did there?)
Of course, an unabridged Hamlet runs to around four hours - and you can always hunt out Branagh's 1996 masterpiece for that (Anybody up for seeing that next time it's on at the Astor?)
This is a one-woman abridged version of Hamlet.
It is stunning.
There are no sets. There are no props (Izzard's amazing manicure the only bit of extra) There's a spotlight with some shadow tracking from the front of the stage. For the next two-and a-bit hours, she plays all the characters.
Yep. One woman and one of the Bard's most complex plays.
And she is magnificent. Flicking across accents and scenes, Izzard is a professional of the highest order. The funny bits stay funny. The poignant bits tug at your heart strings. She navigates this monster of a play with skill and seeming ease.
I loved that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern were portrayed as sock puppets (that was genius). Her mad Ophelia was heart rending. She got the ghost just right. She's amazing.
The thing that makes Shakespeare is a lot of its back and forth, which is what she did, flicking between characters, accents, gesticulation and mannerisms with a jump. Having watched her on stage for decades, I was aware of her stalking around the stage. For this, with the absence of props, sets and costumes.
It's exactly in this stripped back performance where the brilliance lies. You listen for the words, wait for the soliloquys and anticipate what will happen next.
If you're not familiar with Hamlet, this may not be the performance for you. It definitely helps if you know the play and its intricacies.
We had a discussion at interval. Only one of us had never seen Hamlet before, but had some knowledge of the main speeches.
"But what's going to happen next?"
"Oh, you know, they have to have Ophelia go mad, top herself, everybody gets in a tizzy, Hamlet comes back to Denmark, they bury Ophelia, there's a big fight and they all end up dead."
'Oh. In 45 minutes?"
"Yep. And she's broken for interval at the normal place. That bit with Polonius - they extract that for laughs. The "Goodnight, Mother," is in the text."
Which is harder to do when there is only one of you on stage.
Which, when you think about it. Izzard has absorbed a four-hour play, distilled it and played it in a theatre with the lights turned down, but not off, so she can see our faces as well as we can see hers.
This is a treat. I feel honoured to have seen it.
And to those unhappy people out there that there's a trans woman playing Hamlet - seriously, I mourn for your world view. We need more genius, compassion and excellence like this.
(And I'd love the name and number of her nail technician)
Go if you can. Is it the best Hamlet I've seen? No. But it is a brilliant performance all around.
It's sublime.
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