Benedict Cumberbatch in Hamlet for #NTLive

OK, we've all seen it. You would need to live on a deserted island with no electricity not to know that Benedict Cumberbatch is currently playing Hamlet in London. I've never known a single play to get so much press coverage. Cumberbatch is danger of becoming a British Kardashian.

Hamlet is a just as well-known play and character who everyone from Jude Law to Maxine Peake has played - even Disney attempted it with Lion King, but now it was the turn of BBC's Sherlock and Oscar nominated actor, man of the moment Benedict Cumberbatch.

The press, from The Times to the Daily Mail have been fervently writing about his performance as Hamlet on the Barbican stage. It's had write-ups, warm ups and reviews of previews. We've had 'oh my god, Benedict is so amazing' rammed down our throats for what feels like decades.

So I tried to get poverty tickets to this via a ballot because why the hell not - in for a Penny, in for a Pound. I was unlucky, as I always am with ballots, but this was as far as I was willing to go to see him. Luckily, NT Live came to the rescue.

There were four sold out screens at Vue in Newbury, however our screen was no where near full and we were the youngest there by about 20 years. At times, I thought we accidentally stumbled into a Saga reunion.

It's not surprising, Hamlet tackles so many complex themes from existentialism to morality, to the complexities of sexual desires to justice - more importantly, it tackles psychosis and the dichotomy of melancholy in Elizabethan language, so losses a lot of people. This Lyndsey Turner depiction of the play aimed to make it more accessible, but it did this through the dumbing down of these themes and used the distraction of beautiful, film-like and at times baffling staging.

The themes that came out strongly were Hamlet's outwardly perceived madness and his inwardly feeling of calculated sanity. There was also a strong sense of Hamlet's Oedipus Complex as he insults his mother's sexual antics of sleeping with the man who killed a father he so admired. Overall, I felt this was a cartoon version of something that should have been so profound and moving, even 400 years after its conception.

Ciaran Hinds as Claudius seemed too tired to be villainous. I was impressed by the chap who played Rosencrantz, who was natural and had an impressive afro. But for me, Sian Brooke as Ophelia stole the show as she did a good job being a weak, honest and innocent girl dominated by a patriarchal upbringing, who really came into her own as her own madness and suicide set in. Although, I'm sure in the original play, this was bought on by guilt - but I might be remembering this wrong as it didn't come through in the play.

Now, onto the person that everyone really wants to know about, Benedict Cumberbatch. His Hamlet was energetic, sweaty, ill-looking, skinny and veiny with bulging biceps that reminded me of more of Skeletor in He-Man than a tortured prince. Much like Hinds, he seemed to be reciting the same lines he has been for months as an automaton instead of an artist. However, it proved one thing - the man is a brilliant actor. He delivered every nuance of the script to perfection, even if it did lack conviction.

NT Live is a brilliant idea. It achieves was this version of Hamlet failed to do, make theatre accessible. We don't all have the time, money or inclination to head towards London's West End to see what may possibly be a disappointing version of a well-loved novel or play. However, if it's shown in your local cinema, it brings these high-brow elitist pursuits to you. How revolutionary.