Situation Critical: Why Did Reviewers Give Eddie Izzard's Hamlet The Thumbs Down?

Critics aren't allowed to think something is OK these days.

I went to the opening night of Eddie Izzard in Hamlet this week. It was a full house and at the end Izzard, performing all the parts, received a standing ovation. As I stood there with my friend he said that he thought it was brilliant. I suggested that the critics might not be so kind. I didn't realise how unkind they would be.

This latest version of Shakespeare's classic has received some of the worst reviews I've seen. And I'm just about old enough to recall Peter O'Toole receiving a drubbing for his car crash Macbeth at The Old Vic. In the Evening Standard's one star write-up Nick Curtis wrote: "this one-person Hamlet is an act of colossal vanity and hubris, hung on the skimpiest artistic justification." The following day the Standard announced it was closing its daily print edition. Maybe Izzard put a curse on them.

The Guardian's one star review was no kinder: "Never mind the murder at the heart of Hamlet. This production feels like its own massacre," concluded Arifa Akbar. The Financial Times review gave it the same number of stars as the Standard and the Guardian put together. Sarah Hemming wrote: "The crucial duel at the end veers perilously close to slapstick."

Other reviews were lukewarm, though many did praise Izzard's feat of memory. Now I know that it's fairly well-established that an opening night audience will often give a show a rapturous ovation, but on this occasion I felt that there was a real disconnect between the audience and the critics.

Before the reviews appeared I chatted to my friend about it. We both agreed that sometimes it wasn't easy to identify the different characters Izzard was playing, but on the other hand this is an incredibly famous play and fairly easy to follow. Anyone who buys a ticket to see it - even buying it because they like Izzard's stand-up – ought to be familiar with the existential gist.

Maybe it's not the best-ever Hamlet. And maybe doing it all alone with minimal props and set and no costume changes is a bit of a gimmick. At least there seemed to be a logic when Izzard did a solo Great Expectations as that has more of a naturally novelistic storytelling element to it. But that is not to say there weren't parts of Hamlet that were enjoyable - using hands to play Rosencrantz and Gulldenstern as if they were naked sock puppets gave Izzard a chance to generate some real laughs.

I certainly didn't think of it as a wasted two hours. Izzard is a charismatic performer and there was a real frisson as sections were performed while walking through the audience, a nod to the street player origins of Shakespeare's work.

My real concern is the absolutely hammering some of the critics gave the production. There's a phenomenon at the Edinburgh Fringe known as "review inflation", when comedies that are perfectly good are given five stars and acclaimed as works of genius. This was the opposite. 

It was as if critics were competing to see who could give it the most negative review And as far as I know, critics don’t confer and plot to come up with similar reviews. Certainly nobody has ever plotted or conferred with me. Even before the rise of the internet and social media there was a feeling that a three star review was a bit "meh", whereas a five star or one star account would get readers talking. Reviews are supposed to be part of a conversation after all.

But a one star review is the type that gets traction. It gets talked about and written about - as I'm doing here - and most of all, it gets clicks and page impressions, the holy grail of publishing these days.

I’m sure the critics who dished out poor reviews were being sincere and not doing it for clickbait. It's very rare I give less than three stars though, but maybe I only choose to review good shows. I once gave two stars to a comedy at the Hen & Chickens pub in Islington and felt so bad about it I went back a few days later to check that it really was as bad as I thought. Luckily for me – though not for them - it was.

Will the reviews affect Izzard? I doubt it. If there is one thing Izzard seems to have it's bulletproof determinatiom. whether its performing stand-up in a foreign language, running countless marathons or trying to be selected as a Labour candidate Izzard just keeps pushing through. Bad press is not going to stop Izzard.

And as for ticket sales? Another friend posted a link to the review on Facebook and said that it sounded so bad he was now almost thinking of buying a ticket. So it might even help sales. Though admittedly he did only say "almost". 

Hamlet is at The Riverside until June 30. Buy tickets here: www.eddieizzardhamlet.com