Seven Hamlet Actors Duke It Out in a Theater Critic's Imagination

In today's New York Times, theater critic Ben Brantley writes that Benedict Cumberbatch, who next August begins playing Hamlet in the Barbican, must be thinking of the many great actors who have preceded him in playing the part on stage. Brantley goes on to imagine a "Battle of the Hamlets" between seven of these actors: John Barrymore, John Gielgud, Laurence Olivier, Richard Burton, David Warner, Mark Rylance, and Simon Russell Beale. (For a similar battle between four movie actors, click here.)

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Accurate List of Hamlet's Soliloquies

Though Hamlet's "To be or not to be" speech is his fourth soliloquy, many websites call it his third. They're skipping the twenty-line speech that follows his interview with the Ghost, which in my view is a particularly bad mistake since Hamlet's monomaniacal vow there is at the heart of his tragedy. The internet's cosmic sinkhole of misinformation will never be filled, but it's worth throwing some dirt in when we can, so here's an accurate list of Hamlet's soliloquies, with a short description of where they occur and what they say, along with a few observations.

"To Be or Not to Be" Smackdown

Who does it best? Branagh: Gibson: Hawke: Olivier: For a smackdown between actors performing Romeo and Juliet's balcony scene, click here .

Balcony Scene Smackdown

Who does it best? Leonard Whiting and Olivia Hussey in Franco Zefirelli's 1968 film: Leslie Howard and Norma Shearer in George Cukor's 1936 version: Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev in a 1966 performance of the balcony scene from Sergei Prokofiev's ballet (1935-36): (Alas, Fox has blocked Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes's performance from Baz Luhrmann's 1996 film.) For a smackdown between actors speaking Hamlet's "To be or not to be" soliloquy, click here .

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