John Gielgud with Judith Anderson as Gertrude. They appeared together in a Broadway production in 1936. Photograph: APLaurence Olivier, seated, in the 1948 film he also directed. Photograph: Universal Studios/Getty ImagesPeter O'Toole backstage at the Old Vic in London for Hamlet in 1963. Photograph: McCabe/Getty ImagesRichard Burton played Hamlet in 1953 at the Edinburgh festival. Photograph: Keystone/Getty ImagesRalph Fiennes as Hamlet at the Hackney Empire in London in 2005. Photograph: Tristram Kenton for the GuardianA scene from a film version of Hamlet directed by Grigori Kozintsev and starring Innokenti Smoktunovsky in 1964. Photograph: Sovfoto/UIG via Getty ImagesSimon Russell Beale played Hamlet at the Lyttelton theatre in London in 2000. Photograph: Tristram Kenton for the GuardianDavid Tennant in the RSC's production of Hamlet at the Novello theatre in London in 2008. Photograph: Tristram Kenton for the GuardianSamuel West as Hamlet at the Royal Shakespeare theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon in 2001. Photograph: Tristram Kenton for the GuardianChristopher Eccleston in Hamlet at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds in 2002. Photograph: Tristram Kenton for the GuardianJude Law played Hamlet at Wyndham's theatre in London in 2009. Photograph: Tristram Kenton for the GuardianDeutsches Schauspielhaus's Hamlet starring Angela Winkler, Eva Mattes and Hermann Lause, at the Edinburgh festival in 2000. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod for the GuardianKenneth Branagh in the 1996 film Hamlet. Photograph: Moviestore Collection/Rex FeaturesSarah Bernhardt as Hamlet in an undated photo. Photograph: Bettmann/CorbisIllustration (c1893) of English actors Ellen Terry and Henry Irving in Hamlet. Photograph: Time & Life Pictures/Getty ImagesNicol Williamson and Marianne Faithfull in the 1969 film Hamlet. Photograph: Snap/Rex FeaturesEthan Hawke in a film adaptation of Hamlet in 2000. Photograph: Miramax Films/Getty ImagesMel Gibson in the 1990 film version of Hamlet. Photograph: Cine Text/Allstar/SportsphotoDerek Jacobi as Hamlet and Julian Glover as the King of Denmark in Hamlet at the Old Vic in 1978. Photograph: Ken Towner/Associated Newspapers/Rex FeaturesChristopher Plummer and Jo Maxwell Muller in the 1964 TV adaptation of Hamlet at Elsinore. Photograph: AlamyRichard Briers as Hamlet at the Duthy Hall in London in 1956. Photograph: Daily Mail /Rex FeaturesJonathan Slinger as Hamlet at the Royal Shakespeare theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon in 2013. Photograph: Tristram Kenton for the GuardianBen Whishaw as Hamlet and Imogen Stubbs as Gertrude in Hamlet at the Old Vic in 2004. Photograph: Tristram Kenton for the GuardianJohn Neville as Hamlet and Judi Dench as Orphelia at the Old Vic in 1957. Photograph: Associated Newspapers/Rex FeaturesMichael Sheen as Hamlet (left) and Benedict Wong as Laertes at the Young Vic in 2011. Photograph: Simon AnnandRory Kinnear played Hamlet at the Olivier theatre in London in 2010. Photograph: Tristram Kenton for the GuardianDaniel Day-Lewis in Hamlet at the Olivier in 1989. Photograph: Tristram Kenton for the GuardianToby Stephens at the Royal Shakespeare theatre in 2004. Photograph: Tristram Kenton for the GuardianDavid Warner and Estelle Kohler in Peter Hall's 1965 production of Hamlet at the Royal Shakespeare theatre. Photograph: Hess/Associated Newspapers /Rex FeaturesAdrian Lester played Hamlet in a production directed by Peter Brook at the Bouffes du Nord theatre in Paris in 2000. Photograph: Jean-Pierre Muller/AFPAlan Cumming in Hamlet at the Donmar Warehouse in London in 1993. Photograph: Alastair Muir/Rex FeaturesMark Rylance and Joanna McCallum in Hamlet at Shakespeare's Globe theatre in London in 2000. Photograph: Robbie Jack/CorbisJoshua McGuire as Hamlet at Shakespeare's Globe in 2011. Photograph: Tristram Kenton for the GuardianJohn Simm played Hamlet at the Sheffield Crucible in 2010. Photograph: Tristram Kenton for the Guardian Gruffudd Glyn, Dharmesh Patel as Hamlet (centre) and Dyfan Dwyfor in the RSC's Young People's Shakespeare production of Hamlet in 2010. Photograph: Hugo Glendinning /RSCMichael Maloney as Hamlet and Frances Tomelty as Gertrude at the Barbican in London in 2004. Photograph: Tristram Kenton for the GuardianGoogie Withers as Gertrude and Michael Redgrave as Hamlet in a 1958 production of Hamlet in Stratford-upon-Avon. Photograph: Central Press/Getty ImagesGina Bellman and Stephen Dillane at the Gielgud theatre in 1994. Photograph: Tristram Kenton for the GuardianAnnabel Scholey and Jamie Ballard in a production at the Tobacco Factory in Bristol in 2008. Photograph: Tristram Kenton for the GuardianSteven Berkoff performs Hamlet at the Roundhouse in London in 1980. Photograph: Graham Morris/Getty ImagesRichard Chamberlain and Margaret Leighton in the 1970 TV production of Hamlet. Photograph: ITV/Rex FeaturesAsta Nielsen in the 1921 film Hamlet. Photograph: Cinetext/Allstar/SportsphotoVaneshran Arumugam as Hamlet (left), Nicholas Pauling and Marcel Meyer at the Swan theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon in 2006. Photograph: Tristram Kenton for the GuardianMichael Pennington and Barbara Leigh-Hunt in Hamlet at the Royal Shakespeare theatre in 1980. Photograph: Reg Wilson/RSC Alex Jennings in Hamlet at the Barbican, London, in 1997. Photograph: Tristram Kenton for the GuardianBenedict Cumberbatch is set to play Hamlet at the Barbican in 2015. Photograph: Chris Pizzello/Invision/APMaxine Peake is to appear as Hamlet in a reimagining of the part at Manchester's Royal Exchange in autumn 2014
