Eddie Izzard on performing Hamlet and a 90km double-marathon day

Eddie Izzard told The Guardian that rehearsing and performing a one-woman Hamlet felt surprisingly natural, and also recounted a gruelling double-marathon day in which they ran 90km in just under 12 hours.

On stage, Izzard said they felt “at home” in Hamlet and deliberately approaches the play by addressing the audience rather than performing behind a fourth wall. They said the delivery of “to be or not to be” varies night to night, and that the show includes a staged sword fight against themself — a skill Izzard said they learned while sword fighting in Covent Garden.

Izzard said they have run more than 100 marathons and described some of the toughest: a hilly run in Northern Ireland where a miscalculation left another six miles to go, and the South Africa challenge in which they ran 27 marathons in 27 days, spent a day in hospital and then completed a double marathon on the final day, totalling about 90km in just under 12 hours — “that was a tough day,” they said.

Izzard’s Hamlet is scheduled at the Sydney Opera House from 9 to 21 June and at Arts Centre Melbourne from 30 June to 12 July. Their Remix tour is also touring Australia from 6 to 16 May, according to the interview.

Key Topics

Culture, Eddie Izzard, Hamlet, Remix Tour, Sydney Opera House, Arts Centre Melbourne