'Hamlet' Off-Broadway review — Hiran Abeysekera is a charmingly cheeky prince
Read our review of Hamlet off Broadway, a new production of Shakespeare's tragedy from London's National Theatre, directed by Robert Hastie and starring Hiran Abeysekera.
Summary
- Operation Mincemeat director Robert Hastie stages a new version of Shakespeare's Hamlet at the Brooklyn Academy of Music
- The show is defined by the boyishly energetic performance of Hiran Abeysekera as the title prince
- This production is set in modern-day Denmark and runs approximately 3 hours
Hiran Abeysekera’s Hamlet was first introduced last spring via a short video posted to the National Theatre of London’s social media accounts. The actor lounges in a theatre seat, wearing an Elizabethan ruff and a pair of shades, palming a human skull. “To be or not to be, innit?” he says with a grin and a wink at the camera. The comments section was in love — not least of all because the promo promised a cheeky take on literature’s original brooding bad boy.
The National’s Hamlet, first directed by Robert Hastie (Operation Mincemeat) in fall 2025, has made its way across the pond to the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), and Americans can finally get a taste of Abeysekera’s Danish prince. They will find that this Hamlet is no morose brooder — or at least, that’s not what defines him. In fact, Hamlet’s near-comedic disposition defines the entire production, making its highs feel higher and the lows feel lower.
Regarding the lows, many of the supporting performances feel measured, and not always for the best. But they set the stage for Hamlet (and Ophelia, to a lesser extent) to come crashing through all the formality. Abeysekera (Life of Pi) moves through scenes with a casual arrogance befitting a prince born to belong in the grandest of spaces. But there is also an impossible tenderness to his Hamlet. He greets his friends intimately, lingering in physical connections like a clasping of hands or an emotional hug.
For all his swagger, he is also overflowing with a refreshing childishness, whether aiming finger guns around the palace or crawling into a chair like a little boy to hear his ghost father’s (Ryan Ellsworth) tale of woe. The teenager-chic “Tobacco and Boys” shirt he sports to the theatre is an excellent Christopher Marlowe Easter egg, courtesy of set and costume designer Ben Stones. It’s closely followed in sartorial storytelling by a Blockbuster Video sweatshirt that smacks of millennial yearning for a return to childhood and simpler times. There’s a deep-seated humanity in this Hamlet that makes you ache to think who he could have been if not for the emotional burdens the older generation has placed on him.
Much of the London cast came overseas for the run at BAM, including standouts Francesca Mills (The Witcher: Blood Origin) as Ophelia and Alistair Petrie (Sex Education) as Claudius. Mills takes full control of the stage, infusing a bright, indomitable energy even into scenes where Ophelia's lines are minimal. She later turns that energy into something dark and dangerous, making Ophelia’s exit less of a fall from sanity than a dramatic flaming out of existence. Petrie’s Claudius is a master gaslighter, smiling guilelessly in the face of Hamlet’s righteous anger and choosing precisely when and how to let his own true rage, carefully tempered beneath the surface, show.
Outside of Hamlet himself, however, much of this production is a fairly straightforward staging, albeit set in modern-day Denmark. But one directorial choice continues to replay in my mind. It comes back to Hamlet’s antic disposition and those finger guns he keeps throwing up throughout the first act. Just how in control is Hamlet of his own mind? This is the question Hastie leaves audiences to ponder.
Hamlet summary
Prince Hamlet is grieving the recent loss of his father, the King of Denmark. To add insult to injury, Hamlet’s mother, Gertrude, marries her late husband’s brother, Claudius, less than two months after the old king’s funeral. But one night, the dead king’s ghost visits Hamlet to reveal it was Claudius who murdered him. He begs Hamlet to take revenge. Distrustful of his mother, his uncle, everyone in the palace, and sometimes even his own mind, Hamlet sets out on an uncertain path of vengeance destined for tragedy.
What to expect at Hamlet
For all the intriguing choices made by Hastie, Abeysekera, and Mills, the setting feels largely emotionless. Where Shakespeare’s Hamlet is originally set in a medieval Danish castle, this production is set in a modern Danish one. But other than the modern-day clothing, there’s little that tethers the characters to any particular decade of the 21st century. But the longer I sat with Ben Stones's set design, the more I noticed how it betrays something rotten in the state of Denmark.
For most of Hamlet's 3-hour runtime, the set depicts a fairly straightforward European palace hallway, characterized by intricate crown molding and tall ceilings, as well as an elaborate painted mural that wraps around the entire space. Almost a third of a wall depicts a military victory, in the style of Eugène Delacroix’s Liberty Leading the People, with a Danish flag flying triumphantly above a crush of bodies and a Norwegian flag symbolizing defeat. (Fans of Chloé Zhao’s film Hamnet surely won’t help but also note the copse of trees prominent on the back wall of the mural.) It illustrates the military might of Hamlet’s warmongering father, as recounted by the characters. But what they don’t know is that the dead king’s brutal victory over Norway has set into motion the events happening outside the castle walls.
The most interesting set design, however, appeared when Hamlet and the rest of the Danish court attend Murder of Gonzago, a show performed by a theatre troupe. The entire stage transforms for the first (and only) time: Draping floor-to-ceiling red velvet curtains force the court into a much smaller space, into which is built a mini theatre — a proscenium within a proscenium, if you will, for a play within a play. The curtains stay up for just one more scene, to usher in the first character death of the play.
What audiences are saying about Hamlet
Theatregoers are taking to online forums like Show-Score and Mezzanine to praise Hamlet, especially Abeysekera’s one-of-a-kind performance.
- “Brilliant cast, especially Hiran Abeysekera in the title role, and Francesca Mills, who breaks your heart.” - Show-Score user Elisa 9119
- “Some great choices, some weird choices, overall a good modern day setting for the play” - Mezzanine user Kendall Shepard
- “Not sure if it's the director's vision or [Abeysekara's] own spin on the character, but it's an uneven performance that comes across most of the time as buffoonish, childish and spoilt, and all this acting up detracts from our understanding of motivation and gets old after a while.” - Show-Score user GreatAvi
- “Hiran Abeysekera is the best Hamlet I’ve ever seen.” - Mezzanine user marv
Read more audience reviews of Hamlet on Show-Score.
Who should see Hamlet
- Theatregoers who wish they could hop the pond and check out the London theatre scene can have a taste of it while the National Theatre’s Hamlet is in town.
- Shakespeare fans will delight seeing in Hastie’s production of Hamlet on stage, though theatregoers should note the nearly 3-hour runtime — pretty typical for the Bard’s plays, but longer than the average show.
- Theatregoers based in or visiting Brooklyn will appreciate the opportunity to see a Broadway-quality production without having to cross the river.
Learn more about Hamlet off Broadway
Hiran Abeysekera pulls out a charmingly cheeky yet heartbreakingly boyish Danish prince in Robert Hastie’s production of Hamlet from the National Theatre.
Photo credit: Hamlet off Broadway. (Photos by Julieta Cervantes)
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