I hope in a way he'll miss it, because that will mean he enjoyed it, and he should. But I'm not blind to how exhausting these months must have been! 

Well Benedict doesn't get much time off, he's virtually straight into Dr Strange.

I've seen it again on Wednesday and it was pure magic. I did have this unique feeling that I am experiencing something special, seeing one of the greatest actors of our time live on stage in a spellbinding performance. 

That's brilliant, tonnaree. I can't see it often enough. Take the chance on Monday again.

Greetings from London, everyone
Not long to go for us...
My feet are killing me but the dress is new ...
Tonnaree, dear , have a blast!

Weeeeell, after having slept the night, I wanted to share some impressions:
I absolutely loved the directing. It was fantastic. The walls with the almost fluorescent blue, how they easily created different compartments on stage by using the two doors, the stairs, the little balcony ( though I couldn't get a full view of that, being seated on the left) gave a nice dynamic on stage and made you think that there were several rooms. I liked the music very much, the lightning, perfect.
Benedict was a bundle of energy every second. His voice carried to the very last rows, his bodily presence is so captivating. I guess I can't add anything that hasn't already been said.
In my opinion his true counterpart on stage was Jim Norton as Polonius. I had had such fun to see him ( side note: Husband and me had been introduced to an Irish sitcom " Father Ted", in which he had a hilarious role. He declamated very clearly, funny and with a fantastic presence.
 

Gertrud and Claudius were very good, though I have to say, that for my taste Claudius could have been more mischievous and devilish.
The only one that didn't work at all for me was Ophelia, I'm very sorry to say that. Though it was really sad to see her going to her death in the end.
Some of the cuts they did worked fine suspense- and understanding wise, some took a bit from the play I think. For example the monologue before Hamlet is sent to England and confronts Fortinbras armies. And the scene in Gertrud's closet was cut as well if I'm not mistaken.

I did wonder, so maybe it's been mentioned before...brilliant role!
Intersting too about missing parts from the original play.
Possibly that's an advantage of not knowing the play very well.
I have only ever seen Hamlet once before and that was nearly 50 years ago...so I didn't have that problem!
This contrasts with Fassbender's Macbeth...which I know very well and so was angry about cutting a couple of favourite speeches/scenes.

Glad you had a good experience.
I never even tried, I've always said I wouldn't do stage door...maybe I'm a coward!

mrshouse wrote:

And then stage door. ....And then Benedict came to our corner. God he signs away at such speed! I have his autograph and politely asked if he would mind a selfie with me. He said, sure, I should tell him when I'm ready signing away three more while I fiddled with my mobile.... The pic is awful, Ben is a bit blurred and half of my face is cut off but who cares?

I'd love to see the photo, if you can figure out how to post it here.

So glad to hear you had a fabulous time. I must admit, I am quite envious.  And meeting Ben after, that's just the frosting on the delicious cake. Thanks for sharing your experiences with us.