Waiting For Cumberbatch's Hamlet [View all]

[Matilda]

Teri Peterson, 39, a receptionist, has lived in rural Wisconsin her whole life. With the nearest theatres in Chicago or Milawaukee over a two hours drive away, Shakespeare performances are not always easy to access. But in October, she has tickets to Hamlet – almost 4,000 miles away from home.

As she says, this is no ordinary Shakespeare production. This will be Benedict Cumberbatch’s Hamlet at the Barbican, a show that over the past year has become one of the most talked-about theatre productions across the world.

When tickets first went on sale in August last year, it became the fastest selling show in London theatre history, with tens of thousands attempting to buy tickets and all 100,000 selling out in minutes. While the tickets retailed at around £65, they are now reselling online for upwards of £1,500. Each day the Barbican will release another 30 tickets priced at £10 for the production, and the actor’s peculiarly obsessive fans are expected to camp out at the Barbican nightly in a bid to get their hands on one. The first night is on Wednesday.

http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/aug/03/benedict-cumberbatch-hamlet-barbican-tickets-autograph

Hamlet is my favourite Shakespeare play, and I have already bought tickets to a screening of the Barbican production at my local cinema in November. I wish it were live, but this is as close as I’ll get. I never thought anybody would get close to Olivier in the role, but I think Cumberbatch could be one of the all-time great actors, so I’m eager to see what he does with it.