Daily Mail columnist Jan Moir also attended the preview at the Barbican Theatre as did the Telegraph, which posted a “first look”.
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Stills have been released from Benedict Cumberbatch‘s starring role in Hamlet.
Some have already called it “Hamlet in a hoodie” as Cumberbatch sports some modern attire, including jeans and a sweater, during his performance as the prince of Denmark.
The star, who is playing the lead in the fastest-selling play in British history, said there was “nothing less supportive or enjoyable” than being on stage and seeing a “big red light” from an audience member’s camera.
The Sherlock star had emerged to speak to a group of cheering fans outside the stage door after yesterday’s performance.
Clearly a matter close to his heart, Cumberbatch explained that he wants to give audiences a live performance that will be remembered in their “minds and brains whether it’s good, bad or indifferent” instead of on their phones. “It may not be any of you here but it’s blindingly obvious”, he said. He told fans to spread his message through social media, and warned that future offenders could be evicted from the show.
He previously said: “I don’t know if there is such a thing as a right age to play the part, but 36 or 37 seems appropriate to me, so I need to do it before long”.
The Times’s Kate Maltby was thoroughly unimpressed, describing the production as “Hamlet for kids raised on Moulin Rouge”, and awarded it just two stars.
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She wrote: “Benedict Cumberbatch has all the energy Hamlet requires, sweating around the Barbican stage like an oleaginous electric eel, but there’s little subtlety in this performance”.
