Has the solo star-vehicle as epic monologue theatre reached its peak with Eddie Izzard’s one-woman Hamlet? Isabelle Huppert, Sarah Snook and Andrew Scott have all performed their own turns, of late.
This is, in fact, Izzard’s second such dramatic juggling act. The first was the charmingly performed Great Expectations in which she played every part. But where Dickensian drama suits picaresque characterisation and cute delivery, here Izzard, wrestling with 23 Shakespearean roles on an empty stage, butts up against the limits of the form – or perhaps the limit of her own acting skills, which are badly exposed.
