"This is a Hamlet for a world on the edge: a warning from history, and a plea for new ideas from a new generation."
Matt Trueman, Variety

Academy Award® nominee Benedict Cumberbatch (BBC’s Sherlock, The Imitation Game, Frankenstein at the National Theatre) takes on the title role of Shakespeare’s great tragedy.

Directed by Lyndsey Turner (Posh, Chimerica) and produced by Sonia Friedman Productions, National Theatre Live will broadcast this eagerly awaited production live to cinemas.

As a country arms itself for war, a family tears itself apart. Forced to avenge his father’s death but paralyzed by the task ahead, Hamlet rages against the impossibility of his predicament, threatening both his sanity and the security of the state.  

‘Benedict Cumberbatch is a blazing five-star Hamlet.’

Dominic Cavendish, Daily Telegraph

‘This is a Hamlet for a world on the edge: a warning from history, and a plea for new ideas from a new generation.’

Matt Trueman, Variety

‘One of the most visually and atmospherically stunning productions I’ve ever seen, of anything, ever.’

Andrzej Lukowski, Time Out