Sir Ian McKellen’s historic Hamlet hailed as a triumph of ‘understated artistry’

"Hamlet" At The Theatre Royal - Photocall
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Robert Dex @RobDexES23 July 2021

Sir Ian McKellen’s historic performance as Hamlet has been hailed as “courageous” and a triumph of “understated artistry”.

The 82-year-old has returned to a role he first played in 1971 for a radical age-blind production of Shakespeare’s great tragedy.

His performance at the Theatre Royal Windsor was hailed by Paul Taylor in The Independent as “wholly truthful” and “fresh”.

Giving the show four stars, Taylor said: “The miracle here – and it is an uber-feat – is that McKellen wholly subsumes himself into an interpretation of the part that makes you, for long periods, quite forget the difference between his calendar age and the hero’s official age”.

He said the actor was “at once electrically courageous and unassuming” and tipped the show for West End success.

Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Dominic Cavendish hailed Sir Ian’s record breaking performance – he is the oldest actor to perform the part professionally on a UK stage – writing that given the difference in age between the actor and the young doomed Danish Prince he had produced a performance that was “remarkably coherent and compelling”.

The performance was also given four stars in the Daily Mail where Patrick Marmion said Sir Ian was “the sort of octogenarian we all aspire to be”.

The critic also praised the actor’s approach to one of Shakespeare’s most famous speeches where Hamlet wonders aloud whether “to be or not to be”, writing that Sir Ian brings  “an overwhelming melancholy and pathos” to the lines.

Writing in The Guardian, Arifa Akbar highlighted the “inspired central innovation” of casting the show “age-blind”.

She said the Lord of the Rings star put in a performance that belied his age, writing: “He is sprightly, delivering a fast, physical performance, but trembles and bursts into tender old man’s tears too”.

She goes on to say “McKellen’s understated artistry renders Hamlet a prince of all – and any – time and age.”

Hamlet runs until September 4 before it is followed by a production of Anton Chekov’s The Cherry Orchard where Sir Ian will take on another role.

Director Sean Mathias said he hoped both productions would be rays of hope in the “return of British theatre from the long dark night of Covid-19”.

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