Hark! Hamlet cometh

Hamish Linklater realizes that 99% of theater audiences likely know the plot of “Hamlet” and its bleak outcome, but the 30-year-old actor promises to impress both veterans and first-timers with his portrayal of the 400-year-old role at South Coast Repertory.

The production of William Shakespeare’s famous story of revenge, love and madness, which opens Friday, will be the first time the play will be performed at the Costa Mesa theater since its founding in 1964.

“It’s an interesting challenge walking into a room of people full of expectations, but there’s probably like four people in the audience each night who don’t know what’s going to happen, so you still have to take care of them and act all surprised when you find out your uncle killed your father,” Linklater said.

In his second stint as the “melancholy Dane,” Linklater said the play is just as loved by actors as it is by spectators.

“For an actor, I think it’s like getting to bat cleanup for the New York Yankees,” he said. “It’s just the greatest thing you can ask to do.”

Linklater is no stranger to Shakespeare, though many may recognize him as Matthew from CBS’s “The New Adventures of Old Christine.” His mother, vocal coach Kristin Linklater, co-founded Shakespeare & Co. — a training and performance theater in Massachusetts. And even as a child, he was performing the Bard’s works.

“Growing up, I thought Shakespeare was the be all and the end all, but it turns out all you can afford to do is starve if you just want to be a Shakespearean actor,” said Linklater, who has also played Laertes, Romeo and Lysander from “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”

In the 43 years since they founded South Coast Repertory, Martin Benson and David Emmes have been waiting until they could put together the ideal cast and crew to produce “Hamlet,” which they found in Linklater and Tony Award-winning director Daniel Sullivan.

“Hamlet” costars include repertory regulars Hal Landon Jr., Richard Doyle and Linda Gehringer, as well as Michael Urie of the ABC series “Ugly Betty,” Robert Foxworth and Dakin Matthews.

“When you take a play like ‘Hamlet’ or ‘King Lear’ — arguably the two greatest plays ever written in the English language — it takes the finest actors and director to make it work at the level you want it to work,” Benson said. “You don’t want to do a second-rate production of one of the finest plays of all time.”

Coming in at three hours, Sullivan’s production will be a classic take on the immortal tragedy, through Linklater was quick to point out there will be no codpieces or tights.

“It’s classical, but you won’t laugh at the costumes,” Linklater said.

Following several film and television versions of the play and an incalculable number of theater productions — the first dating to 1602 — “Hamlet” continues to engage theatergoers because it’s a story that everyone can relate to, Benson and Linklater agreed.

“It explores the human heart and mind to such an extent that you can’t read the play without discovering more about humanity and what you are as a person,” Benson said. “And if nothing else, it’s a revenge story.”

IF YOU GO

WHAT: Hamish Linklater starring in “Hamlet”

WHEN: Friday through July 1: 7: 30 p.m. Tuesdays; 8 p.m. Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays; 2:30 and 8 p.m. Saturdays and 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Sundays

WHERE: South Coast Repertory’s Segerstrom Stage, 655 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa

COST: $28 to $60

INFO: Discussions with cast members will follow performances on June 6 and 12. For tickets and more information, go to www.scr.org or call (714) 708-5555.