The title is structured like a prize fight, a bout between two heavyweights in the manner of Peter Morgan’s Frost/Nixon. In one corner, the most famous actor in the world, Sarah Bernhardt; in the other corner, Shakespeare’s troubled Prince Hamlet, never before played professionally by a woman. No points for guessing who comes out on top.
US playwright Theresa Rebeck sets her work in 1899, when Bernhardt (Kate Mulvany) is a star of massive international renown but experiencing a major crisis of confidence. She has played her share of ingenues, including Ophelia and La Dame aux Camélias, but knows her time portraying alluring young beauties is coming to an end. The theatres are too small, the lights unforgiving. What she needs is a shake-up of her reputation, a role that will shock and delight audiences searching for something new.
