Star-driven overseas productions usually arrive in Australia trailing a plethora of glowing reviews from major mastheads. Izzard’s The Tragedy of Hamlet? Not so much.

The UK’s Guardian awarded it a single star, describing the performance as “in essence like a reading, with little compelling movement or emotional purchase … more an exercise in vanity than artistic purpose”.

London’s Evening Standard followed suit: “This one-person Hamlet is an act of colossal vanity and hubris, hung on the skimpiest artistic justification.”

Suzy Izzard: The Tragedy of Hamlet. Photo © Daniel Boud

Hamlet is, I’m relieved to say, much better than those star ratings suggest, though I don’t doubt that some will find this visually minimal production, directed by Selina Cadell and adapted by Izzard’s brother Mark Izzard, hard going compared with elaborate, bells-and-whistles solo shows such as Sydney Theatre Company’s Dracula and The Picture of Dorian Gray. The opening-night audience in the Sydney Opera House Playhouse was noticeably thinner after the interval.

From the start, it’s obvious that stand-up comedian-turned-actor Eddie – now Suzy – Izzard, 64, has the acting chops for the task. Dressed in leather pants and a striking jacket, Izzard cuts a...