by Noah Sebourn
After just a few moments in the presence of comedian, actor, activist, and now Shakespearean virtuoso Eddie Izzard, it’s easy to see why she’s an icon. Known for her sharp wit, intellectual stand-up, and electric screen presence, Izzard has once again redefined the limits of solo performance with an ambitious one-woman adaptation of Hamlet, coming to the Seattle Rep April 30–May 18, 2025.
Adapted by her brother Mark and directed by Selina Cadell, the production has received glowing reviews for its reinvention of what a Shakespearean play can be. Following its runs in New York, Chicago, and most recently San Francisco, it has captured audiences with its stripped-down intimacy and theatrical clarity, earning nominations from the Outer Critics Circle and the Drama League. Whether you’re a devoted fan of the Bard or someone who’s always found Shakespeare a bit opaque, Izzard’s Hamlet offers something bold and refreshingly accessible.
“This is William Shakespeare’s Hamlet,” Izzard said with characteristic intensity. “It’s a tragedy. It’s existential. It’s not a comedy. So don’t come expecting jokes. You’ll get the gravedigger and Polonius being a bit buffoonish, but that’s about it. It’s about death, revenge, procrastination. And I play it with total seriousness.”
Serious, yes but never static. In a feat of stagecraft, Izzard transforms solo performance into an ensemble experience, shifting seamlessly between voices, postures, and physicalities to inhabit a full cast of 23 characters.
“I had to get 13,500 words… into my head before you could rehearse it,” she said. “Before you could finesse it, before Selina… could make sure the characters were emotionally driving in the right direction.”
That level of preparation builds on the foundation laid by her 2023 solo adaptation of Great Expectations, in which she brought 19 Dickens characters to life.
“If you compare it to my Great Expectations, it’s similar,” she explained. “…One was a book being adapted into a play, and this is a play being staged as a play.”
And just like Dickens’s prose, Shakespeare’s language lives and breathes through her voice, partly because of Izzard’s unique training: the street.
“Back in Shakespeare’s time, actors were performing off the back of carts in market fairs,” she said. “There was no fourth wall. That’s where I come from. Talking directly to audiences, that’s my training. So when I speak the soliloquies, I don’t just speak at the audience, I speak to them.”
The result is a Hamlet like no other — one that’s stripped-down, resonant, and accessible. It’s not just about the title role. “This isn’t just about playing Hamlet,” Izzard said. “It’s about honoring Ophelia, Gertrude, Claudius, all of them. Giving weight to each character’s arc, no matter their gender. That’s what’s powerful about it.”
When asked “Why Hamlet? Why now?” she knew with certainty. “I just thought: it’s time,” she said, smiling. “It’s a role I’ve always wanted to do. And now, I’m going to take it around the world.”
More of this interview will appear in the July 2025 issue of Out NW Magazine.
See Eddie Izzard in HAMLET, April 30 to May 18th at the Seattle’s Rep’s Leo K theatre. Click HERE for Tix.
