海角大神

The new production of 鈥淗amlet,鈥� starring 鈥淭he Imitation Game鈥� and "Sherlock" star Benedict Cumberbatch, has opened in London 鈥� to lackluster reviews.

The play, which had its opening night on Aug. 25, also stars 鈥淕ame of Thrones鈥� actor Ciar谩n Hinds as Claudius, Anastasia Hille as Gertrude, and Si芒n Brooke as Ophelia.

Mr. Cumberbatch received an Oscar nomination for Best Actor last year for his role as Alan Turing in 鈥�The Imitation Game.鈥� He also stars on the BBC TV show 鈥�Sherlock鈥� in the title role and has appeared in such films as the 鈥�Hobbit鈥� movie series, 鈥淎ugust: Osage County,鈥� and 鈥淭he Fifth Estate.鈥� He is set to star in the anticipated James 鈥淲hitey鈥� Bulger film 鈥淏lack Mass鈥� with Johnny Depp.

The actor鈥檚 previous theater experience includes a 2005 London production of 鈥淗edda Gabler,鈥� for which he earned an Olivier Award nomination, and a 2011 production of 鈥淔rankenstein鈥� in which he and actor Jonny Lee Miller switched off playing Victor Frankenstein and his Creature. Cumberbatch and Mr. Miller won the Best Actor Olivier Award for the show as well as other prizes.聽

The new 鈥淗amlet鈥� production has so far gotten a mixed reception from critics, but most seem to object to staging decisions, not Cumberbatch's performance. For that,聽reviewers聽are聽writing聽that Cumberbatch is 鈥渁 ... trapped inside an intellectual ragbag of a production,鈥� "a real actor with a gift for engaging our sympathy and showing a naturally , murder, and the hollow insufficiency of revenge," 鈥� as Hamlet to make me wish he were even better,鈥� and 鈥渁s powerful a presence as ever 鈥� , if short on 鈥� humility.鈥�

The production with Cumberbatch is reportedly the in the history of London theater. In America, the topic of A-list Hollywood actors appearing in Broadway productions has been controversial in recent years. Almost everyone acknowledges that having a household name in a production can draw in theatergoers who may not have heard of theater veterans Sutton Foster or Audra McDonald, and actors have, of course, been going back and forth between stage and screen since the movies caught on.

But in 2010, some stage actors became especially incensed by the big presence of Hollywood A-listers on the list of Tony nominees. (Actors such as Scarlett Johansson, Denzel Washington, Viola Davis, and Catherine Zeta-Jones captured some of the major acting prizes.) Wins for a couple of those actors聽left some stage veterans "," and stage actor Hunter Foster created a called "Give the Tonys Back to Broadway."

However, some in the theater community have now accepted that Hollywood actors hogging the spotlight聽鈥� both literally and in nominations 鈥� has gone on for years and will probably continue in the future as well. When the most recent Tony nominations were announced, and Hollywood A-listers actors such as Bradley Cooper and Helen Mirren were nominated, one wrote, 鈥淎llow us to give a brief reminder: This happens every single year." Another wrote that actors "more familiar for their work in Hollywood than on Broadway ultimately find that, just as everyone else on the Rialto, they鈥檙e subject to the same category limitations and the that sway all the nominators鈥� decisions."

Hollywood colliding with Broadway and the West End probably won鈥檛 stop anytime soon.