Benedict Cumberbatch in The National Theater production of Hamlet at the Barbican Theatre. Photo: Johan Persson
The best of British Theatre.
Academy Award® nominee Benedict Cumberbatch (Doctor Strange, BBC’s Sherlock, The Imitation Game, The Power of the Dog) takes on the title role of Shakespeare’s great tragedy.
As a country arms itself for war, a family tears itself apart. Forced to avenge his father’s death but paralyzed by the task ahead. Hamlet rages against the impossibility of his predicament, threatening both his sanity and the security of the state.
The production was filmed live at the Barbican, and with epic, lavish staging and costumes which look beautiful on screen, Hamlet was the National Theater Live’s bestselling broadcast as of 2017 and has now seen by over 800,000 people worldwide. In addition to Cumberbatch, the cast includes Ciarán Hinds, Sian Brooke, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, Anastasia Hille, and Jim Norton. Time Out called Hamlet “One of the most visually and atmospherically stunning productions I’ve ever seen, of anything, ever.”
Refreshments can be purchased at Louise & Howie’s Coffee Bar in the lobby, and are permitted in the theater.
Cast Includes: Benedict Cumberbatch
Director: Lyndsey Turner
Writer: William Shakespeare
Theatre: Barbican, London
Sponsors
Performing Arts programming is supported in part by funding from The Melville Straus Family Endowment, and Monica and Peter Tessler. Music Programming is supported in part by The Ellen and James S. Marcus Endowment for Musical Programming.
Additional support provided by Friends of the Theater: John and Joan D’Addario, Christine and Bill Campbell, Gabrielle and Gianpaolo de Felice, Galia Meiri-Stawski and Axel Stawski, Hilarie and Mitchell Morgan, Michèle and Steve Pesner, The Schaffner Family Foundation, Lisa Schultz and Ezriel Kornel, Jayne Baron Sherman and Deborah Zum, Leila Straus, and Susi and Peter Wunsch.