Like the titular character in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, I’m of two minds about Eddie Izzard’s one-person production of the play, now stopping over at Chicago Shakes between its recent New York City debut and an upcoming run in London.
Izzard is a comedian of fierce intelligence, great wit and a wonderfully punk aesthetic. As she noted in a curtain speech after Saturday’s opening here, it’s a very American thing to mount a Shakespearean tragedy with someone of her non-standard acting background. In London, she noted wryly, they wouldn’t look at her resume and think her well-suited to carry such a production.
Izzard clearly was looking for a challenge and perhaps feels she has something to prove about her range and depth as a performer. On those fronts, she has succeeded. She has the play (adapted here by brother Mark Izzard) down cold. She mines many a droll moment, both expected and surprising, from this masterwork. She’s a credible interpreter, good even, and her stripped-down performance, in which swords are signified by hands slashing wanly at the air, places great emphasis on the incredible language of the play.
For a fan of Shakespeare, hearing an intelligent British performer take us through Hamlet’s paces is a low-key delight. (She should consider putting out an Audible version of the production.) And all those years playing big venues as a comedian have given her two tools that help her carry the day here: incredible comic timing and a seemingly effortless ability to hold the attention of an audience.
On the other hand, it is a bit of an ego project, no? This thought nagged at me during act one as I watched Izzard, looking like she stole Dame Judi Dench’s hairstyle right off her head, warming up to the material.
Was this the kind of canny and lucrative project put together primarily to fill a few weeks at Shakespearean theaters around the (G)lobe? It brought to mind a wonderful afternoon I spent with my then mother-in-law more than a decade back hearing Peter O’Toole share a large ration of delightful anecdotes in the Fourth Presbyterian Church across the street from the old Water Tower. Like O’Toole, Izzard is a person in whose presence it is easy and enjoyable to bask. If the brow tilts toward the middle, then, what of it?
But during act two, Izzard rose to meet the play’s building tension and harrowing finish with alacrity and aplomb. The gravedigger scene in particular was brilliantly rendered, riotously funny and surprisingly poignant in her hands. Perhaps it takes a fellow of infinite jest to truly know one.
If you love Hamlet, this production is worth a look, especially if you also appreciate Izzard’s undeniable charisma and talent. There is much method in it.
Eddie Izzard’s solo production of Hamlet runs through May 4 at Chicago Shakespeare Theater.
For a full roundup of reviews of this show, visit Theatre in Chicago.
Photo by Carol Rosegg
