Background The production took place because of a lighthearted agreement between
Richard Burton and
Peter O'Toole while they were filming
Becket. O’Toole decreed that they should each play
Hamlet afterwards under the direction of
John Gielgud and
Laurence Olivier in either
London or
New York City, with a coin toss deciding who would be assigned which director and which city. O’Toole won London and Olivier in the toss, with Burton being assigned Gielgud and New York. O’Toole kept his part of the agreement, appearing as Hamlet under Olivier's direction in the premiere production of the
Royal National Theatre later that year, and Burton approached producer
Alexander H. Cohen and Gielgud about mounting a New York production.
Concept Because Burton disliked wearing period costumes, and for aesthetic reasons of his own, Gielgud conceived of a production performed in a “rehearsal” setting with an incomplete set and the actors wearing what appeared to be street clothes (although the costumes were actually the result of continuous trial-and-error in rehearsals, with the actors bringing in countless variations of attire for Gielgud to consider). Gielgud also opted to depict the Ghost as a shadow against the back of the stage wall, voicing the character himself on tape (since he was unavailable while the production was in performance).
Reception The production was a financial smash, achieving the longest run for the play in Broadway history at 137 performances, which broke the previous record set by
Maurice Evans's
GI Hamlet in the 1940s. The run's popularity was due in no small part to attention Burton received for his romance with
Elizabeth Taylor, whom he married while the production was in Toronto pre-Broadway; crowds gathered outside the New York theater to get a glimpse of Burton, and sometimes Taylor, after the show. Burton's reviews in the title role were largely favorable and he received a
Tony Award nomination for his performance, and
Hume Cronyn’s performance as
Polonius won him the
Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play.
Eileen Herlie, who played Queen Gertrude, had already played the role in
Laurence Olivier's Oscar-winning 1948 film version. Less favorably received were
Linda Marsh as
Ophelia and
Alfred Drake as
King Claudius, whom Gielgud had considered replacing with respectively
Sarah Miles and either
Harry Andrews or himself in rehearsals. Interest in the production inspired books by cast members
William Redfield and
Richard L. Sterne. Sterne went to the length of hiding a tape recorder in a briefcase at rehearsals to get accurate transcriptions of what was said. Sterne hid, under a part of the set, for six hours, to record Gielgud and Burton in their private meeting the day before the first performance. ==Film==