THE DANISH PRINCE, DECODED

Focused staging and strong performances
bring Hamlet’s inner life into view at BAM.

The National Theater’s Hamlet at BAM follows in the tradition of other fine productions of the play at the esteemed Brooklyn institution going back as far as 1961, returning to the Harvey stage over a dozen times. With a strong respect for the text, a clear vision from Director Robert Hastie, and restrained use of stage effects, this Hamlet is a fine addition to the finest renditions of the play, offering an intimate portrayal of the prince and his most private perceptions.

Something may be rotten in the state of Denmark, but in Downtown Brooklyn, Hamlet is a hit, a very palpable hit.

Often cited as one of the greatest plays of the English language, William Shakespeare’s Hamlet (called a Poem Unlimited by Harold Bloom) enjoys status as a work most English speakers can quote at least three times. High school students with no dramatic aspirations still study the tragedy in English class. Indeed, the name Hamlet is almost synonymous with tragedy.

First staged in the early 1600s, Hamlet tells a simple revenge story of the eponymous prince of Denmark. His father recently passed, and his uncle Claudius ascended the throne after hastily marrying his mother, Queen Gertrude, which makes for a tense home situation, to put it lightly. Things really take a turn when the guards at Elsinore catch glimpses of an apparition of the late King Hamlet wandering the ramparts. Hamlet is sought out at once, for perhaps the king’s son can communicate with this spirit.

Luckily, the guards are right, and Hamlet soon goes off with the spirit of his dead father to learn of his murder at the hands of his brother Claudius, setting our hero on his journey of revenge.

Playing the title role of any play is a huge undertaking, let alone one of Shakespeare’s most sought-after dramatic roles. Hiran Abeysekera is more than up to the challenge, bringing a definitive take on the tragic prince for the 2020s. Abeysekera’s Hamlet is pensive, glib, intense, and coy at times, delivering the role’s iconic speeches almost as effortless conversation with the audience as he contemplates reality, life and death, grief, and the human condition.

But even with an excellent performance in the title role, a good production of Hamlet needs the supporting cast. Matthew Cottle delivers a puttering and pondering Polonius. Francesca Mills’ love-struck, then mad Ophelia pleases, while Alistair Petrie’s Claudius plots and postures palatially.

Director Robert Hastie arranges the Bard’s most famous tragedy straight for the most part, with some clever rearrangements of dialogue that make the Danish prince’s soliloquies truly internal thoughts while Denmark’s courtiers hobnob. Hamlet is also the only character who steps past the threshold of the stage for his speeches, off the hardwood floor of Claudius’s court and onto the black front lip of the stage to fully remove himself from the world of the play and deliver thoughts to the audience.

Another touch for the mad Hamlet is that he is the only one on stage who can see when another character is talking to the audience in their asides. Debate rages among scholars of the Bard whether Hamlet is feigning madness to throw off Claudius, or if the sight of his father’s ghost wandering the ramparts of Elsinore truly drove him mad. Hastie decides for us by bringing our perceptions directly into Hamlet’s mind.

Ben Stones pulls double duty, designing sets and costumes. The world of the play is rendered primarily in the castle Elsinore’s chambers, with high walls, tapestry, and hardwood floors. Pieces of the set pull away as Hamlet’s world crumbles and the forces of Norway’s Prince Fortinbras close in. Restraint from Stones and Hastie results in theater technology being used in service of the story, rather than detracting or distracting.

Mr. Stones uses ceremonial military uniforms for the men, and long gowns and corsets for the women. The late King Hamlet and other soldiers don modern camouflage and berets, while servants and laypersons are more modestly dressed and in the gravedigger’s case, covered in the dirt accumulated in a hard day’s work.

There are flashier ways to stage Hamlet, but not necessarily better ones. By keeping its approach direct and its ideas clear, this production proves the play does not need reinvention. It has always been the thing.

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photos by Julieta Cervantes

Hamlet
National Theatre
Harvey Theater at BAM, 651 Fulton St, Brooklyn, NY
2 hours and 50 minutes with intermission
ends on May 17, 2026
for tickets (from $35), visit BAM

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