Hamlet

Hamlet. Shakespeare's most famous play was first offered to Americans in Garrick's version at a theatre in Philadelphia's Society Hill in 1759, with the younger Lewis Hallam Jr. in the title role, and remains the most frequently produced of all Shakespeare's works. At one time or another every great American classical tragedian assumed the role. In his Curiosities of the American Stage, Laurence Hutton devoted an extended chapter to comparing all the major interpreters up to his time. Besides Hallam, his list includes such notables as John Hodgkinson, Thomas Abthorpe Cooper, James Fennell, John Howard Payne, George Frederick Cooke, Edmund Kean, Junius Brutus Booth, James William Wallack, John Jay Adams, William Macready, Charles Kemble, Edwin Forrest, Charles Kean, Edward Eddy, George Vandenhoff, Edward L. Davenport, Lawrence Barrett, James Murdoch, Charles Fechter, Daniel Bandmann, and Tommaso Salvini. Hutton attempted brief descriptions and comparisons of their performances. Noting that both Forrest and Edwin Booth offered interpretations in 1860, he concluded that “the contrast between the powerful robustious figure, deep chest tones, and somewhat ponderous action of the elder actor, and the lithe, poetic, romantic, melancholy rendition of the younger was very marked,” and added, “In many minds Booth is Hamlet, and Hamlet is Booth.” All these 19th‐century artists performed in mountings that today would be perceived as top‐heavy with scenery and very slow‐moving. In 1912 a relatively minor star, John E. Kellerd, established a then long‐run record of 102 performances. Noted 20th‐century Hamlets have included John Barrymore, Leslie Howard, John Gielgud, and Richard Burton. As a rule these actors played in versions that included substantial cuts in text and limited, more suggestive scenery, and allowed the strength and depth of their interpretations to carry the evening. Only Maurice Evans offered anything approaching a totally uncut version, but his often singsong delivery was seen by some critics as standing in the way of a completely satisfying study. Recent notable Hamlets in New York include Sam Waterston, Kevin Kline, Stephen Lang, Ralph Fiennes, and Alex Jennings.