Eddie Izzard Returns Off-Broadway to Play Every Character in Solo Version of Hamlet

Eddie Izzard is set to play Hamlet in New York. Also Ophelia. And Claudius. And Gertrude and Laertes and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern and…

The British comedian-actor-writer-activist will play 23 characters in a one-person version of the Shakespeare tragedy adapted by Mark Izzard, who is Eddie’s brother, and directed by Selina Cadell. The show will play Greenwich House Theater for six weeks only, with previews beginning January 25, 2024 and an official opening on February 11.

“I have always gravitated towards playing complex and challenging characters and Hamlet is the ultimate,” Izzard said in a statement. “This is a production for everyone, a timeless drama with an accidental hero. Selina, Mark, and I want audiences to see and hear an accessible, touching, scary and dramatic Hamlet.”

Last year, Izzard earned raves for playing every character (about 20 of them) in a one-person version of Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations, also an adaptation by Mark Izzard directed by Cadell. Izzard was nominated for a Tony Award in 2003 for A Day in the Death of Joe Egg and starred in Race on Broadway. She is also the recipient of two Emmy Awards for Dress to Kill.

In Hamlet, The King of Denmark is dead, and Prince Hamlet is determined to take revenge, initiating a cascade of events that will destroy both family and state. Izzard will be portraying men, women, ghosts, scholars, tyrants, courtiers, lovers, fools and poets. “I have played multiple characters down the years and, yes, they have been comedic characters. But I realized it could be done for drama as well," Izzard told the Associated Press about the project. "And having done dramas now for over 25 years, I thought, ‘Why don’t I try that?’”

Hamlet will feature sets by Tom Piper, lighting by Tyler Elich, costume stylists are Tom Piper and Libby DaCosta.Didi Hopkins is the movement director. It is produced by WestBeth Entertainment, Mick Perrin Worldwide and John Gore.