Washington Post
- Somewhat Recommended
"...Is the uncanny timing of Shakespeare Theatre Company's staging of "Hamnet" an asset or an imposition? That's a matter of perspective for an adaptation that was setting up in D.C.'s Harman Hall just as Jessie Buckley was knocking down her Oscars competition."
MetroWeekly
- Somewhat Recommended
"...If there is any good news in the smaller roles, Penny Layden as William’s mother, Mary, keeps it mercifully toned down, while Ava Hinds-Jones and Saffron Dey as Agnes’ daughters Susanna and Judith deliver their gentle girls with charming integrity. They are the bright lights here."
Talkin Broadway
- Highly Recommended
"...First of all, O'Farrell and Chakrabarti dig beneath the traditional assumptions about the woman William Shakespeare married, then left at home with three children while he sought theatrical inspiration in London. The couple's one son, Hamnet, died at the age of 11; subsequently, Shakespeare wrote a tragedy about a character named Hamlet at a time when the two names were interchangeable. For an additional level, director Erica Whyman has cast Kemi-Bo Jacobs as Agnes (commonly known today as Anne) Hathaway and other actors of color to acknowledge the multiple cultures living in England in that period. Jacobs is the shining star of this production."
MD Theatre Guide
- Somewhat Recommended
"...“Hamnet,” now playing at Shakespeare Theatre Company, seems to carry immense weight before the house is even opened to welcome patrons. The play is based on an award-winning book by Maggie O’Farrell which was recently adapted into an Oscar-winning movie. It comes from the ever-illustrious Royal Shakespeare Company in Shakespeare’s hometown and dares to put on stage an imagined version of a man who, to many, is the greatest playwright in the Western canon."
The Georgetown Dish
- Highly Recommended
"...I must say it always amazes me the Shakespeare Theatre Company found an Artistic Director of such talent, to follow the iconic Michael Kahn. But they did when at the beginning of the pandemic, they were lucky enough to attract the incredible Simon Godwin. He is bringing so much new and exciting, like this production, to theater audiences in Washington DC. Some productions he directs himself, other programs like Hamnet, he brings here through his contacts, and strong reputation, in the theater around the world."
BroadwayWorld
- Highly Recommended
"...The action and Whyman’s direct dialog makes the drama come alive for audiences who may still think Shakespeare’s prose eludes them. And it gives a context to Shakespeare’s past that deserves to be as well known as the film."
K Street Magazine
- Recommended
"...Adapted by Lolita Chakrabarti from Maggie O’Farrell’s best-selling novel, the play pivots away from the public mythology of William Shakespeare to focus instead on the private pulse of his family life. At its center is Agnes, a woman attuned to nature and nuance, whose marriage to William is marked by deep devotion, and ultimately, devastating loss following the death of their young son, Hamnet."
A Theatre-Goer's Thoughts
- Highly Recommended
"...And the acting! Every word, every movement, every expression is communicated truthfully and sincerely. Kemi-Bo Jacobs as Agnes demonstrates amazing versatility and intensity as she is, by turns, playful, romantic, suffering, ecstatic, maternal, and at least a dozen other emotions. Rory Alexander as William matches Jacobs beat for beat when they are together and communicates both his love for his family and his love for his writing, trying to keep both sides of his life in balance."
DC Theater Arts
- Somewhat Recommended
"...To pull back the curtain on William Shakespeare’s life is to reveal the ways in which the man of great imagination was still just a man, and while this adaptation dares to do so, it loses its courage in the end."
