Hamlet - Albery Theatre 2004

Opened 23 Nov 2004
Written: by William Shakespeare
Directed: Michael Boyd
Cast: Toby Stephens (Hamlet)
Synopsis: The King of Denmark is dead and has been succeeded by his brother Claudius who has also married Gertrude, the widowed Queen. Hamlet, Gertrude's son, is already distressed by his father's death and the hasty remarriage and when his father's ghost appears to tell him that he had been murdered by Claudius, Hamlet vows revenge.

What the critics had to say.....
NICHOLAS DE JONGH for THE EVENING STANDARD says, "Although Stephen's still seems fundamentally miscast (Since its Stratford run), the production has much improved...This is now a Hamlet that leaves you brooding." MICHAEL BILLINGTON for THE GUARDIAN says, "Even if I yearned for more sign of Hamlet's intellectual capacity, this has grown into a genuinely thrilling production." CHARLES SPENCER for THE DAILY TELEGRAPH says, "After several months in Stratford and a further run in Newcastle, Stephens's performance has grown magnificently in both depth and stature. What I described as "one of the least moving, least illuminating accounts of the play I have ever seen", now seems one of the best." IAN JOHNS for THE TIMES says, "This is an intelligent, clear-sighted production that is strong on the politics but tends to neuter the comedy and introspective pain."

External links to full reviews from popular press
The Times
The Guardian
Daily Telegraph

**Production photo by Manuel Harlan