© MARC BRENNER
If you’re in New York City this spring, you can catch Eddie Izzard playing all 25 characters in Hamlet. Lest anyone mistake this for another of the entertainer’s comedy performances, the New York Times assures us that “this frenetic staging is earnest, surprisingly traditional and deadly serious.” It is also a flop. The direction is reported by the NYT to disappoint. “Imagine sock puppets without the socks and you get an idea of her Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.”
If you’re in London, the solo-performer options are better. British audiences currently have a choice between Sarah Snook’s high-tech performance in The Picture of Dorian Gray and Billy Crudup’s more pared-down monologue, Harry Clarke. Both are chasing last year’s success of Andrew Scott’s Vanya, in which the Fleabag actor played eight different characters, frequently in dialogue with each other.