People queue for returned tickets for the opening night of “Hamlet“, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, which opens at the Barbican Centre in London Tickets for Cumberbatch’s Hamlet show sold out within hours of going on sale and are now trading on eBay for up to £1,500.
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The official press night is not until 25 August, although some critics are already giving Cumberbatch five stars.
The fall of the final curtain acted as a cue for a sudden commencement of elbow-jostling among the papers to be the first to review the production, with the Daily Mail claiming it as “electrifying”, Radio Times claiming that Benedict’s particular strength lay in “finding laughs in unexpected places” and the Telegraph calling it “lavish” and “epic”.
“By the time he took his bows… drenched in sweat, the audience were on their feet, clamouring for more”, she wrote.
“And one praised The Times; review, quoting part of it, writing: “‘It’s Hamlet for kids raised on Moulin Rougel.’ Thank Heaven for KateMaltby’s lack of deference toward Cumberbatch”.
“It’s a wasted opportunity: Pure theatrical self-indulgence”.
Times columnist David Aaronovitch suggested his colleague Kate Maltby had shown courage in writing a negative appraisal of such a keenly anticipated production. Fantastic acting, set, direction et al! “#HamletBarbicanBravo to the entire company on your first preview”.
One Twitter user accused Cumberbatch of “overreacting”, writing online: “So, aside from Benedict over-acting & trying too hard to be a classic Olivier-esque Hamlet, the show was phenomenal!!” But it was noticeable that she was not approaching all the “normal” middle class theatregoer types – she was just approaching the younger women and the more obviously middle-aged goth-types.
The 39-year-old was last seen on stage in 2011, in the National Theatre’s production of Frankenstein, directed by Danny Boyle.
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Cumberbatch earned an Oscar nomination for his performance as Alan Turing in The Imitation Game.
