To be or not to be? It’s elementary, if you’re Benedict Cumberbatch because the Sherlock Holmes star will be swapping a pipe for a sword this summer when he takes on the role of Hamlet in a London theatre production this summer.



Cumberbatch is set to play the Danish prince during a 12-week run at the Barbican from August.

The Shakespearean play will be produced by Sonia Friedman, who is also behind West End smash hit The Book of Mormon, and directed by Lyndsey Turner.

Benedict will follow in Jude Law and David Tennant, who have both swapped the screen for the Shakespearean stage in recent years, Jude in Henry V and Tennant in Richard II. Tennant also played Hamlet in a Royal Shakespeare Company production of the play back in 2008.

It won’t be the first time Cumberbatch has taken to the theatre. In 2011 he starred alongside Angelina Jolie’s ex-husband Jonny Lee Miller in a stage version of Frankenstein, which was directed by Danny Boyle.

