REVIEW: Eddie Izzard turns in marathon performance for ‘Hamlet’
Photo: Eddie Izzard performs in Hamlet off-Broadway. Photo courtesy of Amanda Searle / Provided by BBB with permission.
Eddie Izzard, the celebrated actor and comedian, has built a career out of going the distance with her material. She’s a frequent marathon runner, running in races around the world for charitable purposes, and she has performed her comedy in multiple languages for audiences in a wide variety of countries. Now, for her latest marathon-style feat, Izzard is performing in a one-person Hamlet at the Greenwich House Theater (the show then transfers to the Orpheum Theater next week). This follows her powerful performance in last year’s Great Expectations, which also saw Izzard as the only performer on stage.
Perhaps the reason that Izzard undertakes these tests of strength and stamina is because she can withstand the pressure. Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations was a marvel last year, eventually transferring to London’s West End, and Hamlet is similarly remarkable. Using the same creative team once again — Mark Izzard as adapter of the text and Selina Cadell as director — this time around Izzard is able to break down the fourth wall in William Shakespeare’s well-known soliloquies and bring the performance off the stage and into the audience’s realm. A few times during the two-hour-25-minute performance, Izzard descends the stairs from the stage and recites the lines of the title character within inches of theatergoers. She circles the chairs and even heads to the balcony for a recitation. It’s an inspired choice that automatically builds intimacy and connection.
On stage, Izzard brings each and every character to life, from Claudius to Ophelia to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. The actor often finds the funny in the line deliveries — she is a respected comedian after all — but she also finds the intrigue, the heartbreak and the scheming of the plot. She distinguishes the characters less by voice and more by physicality and placement on stage. She carries on conversations and fencing duels by offering quick turns of the head, from left to right. For Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Izzard uses her hands as if they were sock puppets (no socks) to have the bickering effortlessly move back and forth.
Nothing about Izzard’s multiple portrayals is gimmicky or above her ability as a skilled performer. In many ways, she attempts and finishes this dramatic marathon with ease, fully and wholeheartedly bringing the Bard’s tale to a captive audience. So few flourishes are needed to showcase Izzard’s immense skills. She can hold an audience in her hands with a stare, a particular line delivery, perhaps the ascent of one stair or the turning of the head. She strips down the characters and plot to a digestible form, focusing on the words, the regret, the pain and the overcoming of obstacles.
Izzard’s Hamlet, which is selling out each and every performance, proves that Great Expectations last year was not a fluke. Here’s a performer who can excel at everything she attempts beneath the proscenium, from comedy to Dickens to Shakespeare. The play’s the thing wherein the audience catches the sheer dramatic power of Izzard, one of the finest actors in a generation.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Hamlet, starring Eddie Izzard, features an adaptation by Mark Izzard and direction by Selina Cadell. Running time: 2 hours, 25 minutes. Currently running at the Greenwich House Theater through Saturday, March 16, followed by a run at the Orpheum Theater in Downtown Manhattan. Click here for more information.
