Oscar Isaac Will Star As ‘Hamlet’ In 2017
Fans of Star Wars will get to see Oscar Isaac in a different light when he portrays Hamlet next year.
According to The New York Times, Isaac will star in the Theater for a New Audience’s (or TFANA) production of Hamlet at the Polonsky Shakespeare Center in Brooklyn in 2017. Tony Award winner Sam Gold will direct the production, which will open on June 22, 2017, with previews starting on June 4. The show will be a limited engagement ending on July 30.
“Oscar is celebrated for the honesty, authenticity, and intensity of his performances, and Hamlet marks his long-desired return to theater after an impressive series of starring film and television roles,” said Louisa Brady, of the website Broadway World.
Brady continued, “Together Oscar Isaac and Sam Gold will explore the ‘undiscovered country’ of Hamlet’s world which begins, of course, with the first words of the play, ‘Who’s there?'”
The Julliard-trained actor was inspired to star as Hamlet after appearing in the newest installment of the X-Men series, as reported by Broadway.
Tickets for the show will only be available in a subscription package that includes TFANA’s productions of such plays as A Doll House by Henrik Ibsen.
“I know I’ll be buying tickets to this if it turns out to be a thing,” said Carly Lane of the website The Mary Sue, when it was unknown whether Isaac would take the role.
Oscar Isaac has appeared in projects as diverse as the HBO mini-series Show Me a Hero, Inside Llewyn Davis, and most recently Star Wars: The Force Awakens. For his performance in Show Me a Hero, Isaac received a Golden Globe this year, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Isaac will no doubt be familiar with the words of William Shakespeare. He previously starred in the Shakespeare in the Park production of Two Gentlemen of Verona in 2005 and then again in 2007. This production was described as “sensibly silly revival.”
In 2007, he starred in the production of Romeo and Juliet, held at Central Park’s Delacorte Theater where he received rave reviews by The New York Times.
Theater critic Ben Brantley described Isaac’s portrayal of Romeo as “sweetly and convincingly,” in the production that also starred Lauren Ambrose and Camryn Manheim.
“Led by Ms. Ambrose and Oscar Isaac as a Juliet and Romeo whose theme song would never be ‘You Can’t Hurry Love,’ this production advances with hotheaded speed, even when it’s standing still,” said Brantley in his June 2007 review.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Oscar Isaac has been itching to make a return to the world of New York theater after being absent from it for five years. He last performed on stage in 2011 in the Zoe Kazan play We Live Here, which was directed by Sam Gold.
“Mr. Isaac is also excellent in the tricky role of Daniel, whose motives never get much exploration for reasons relating to the plot,” said Charles Isherwood, in an October 2011 review of the play, which also starred Amy Irving.
Oscar Isaac will be busy until then. Entertainment Weekly reports that he will star as the villain in the upcoming film X-Men: Apocalypse directed by Bryan Singer and will return to his role as Poe Dameron in Star Wars: Episode VIII.
Isaac, who’s been described as “the Internet’s boyfriend” will also be starring in the Alex Garland film Annihilation, which also stars Natalie Portman and Jennifer Jason Leigh, according to Vanity Fair.
“Oscar Isaac is, really, just the frosting on this incredible cinematic cake,” said Joanna Robinson, of Vanity Fair.
The website i09 reported recently that Oscar Isaac’s character in the most recent Star Wars film was originally supposed to die, but Isaac was able to convince director J.J. Abrams to keep him in the film.
“We’re glad he did. Poe has become almost as popular as Rey, in terms of new Star Wars characters,” said Germain Lussier, of io9.
[Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images]
