Kenneth Branagh has been forced to withdraw from directing Hamlet in the West End. Jude Law will now act under the guidance of Michael Grandage, the artistic director of the Donmar Warehouse.

“Hamlet” is less a play than a universe, a place to get lost in the glory of language and story. It’s a meditation on loss, but also power, vengeance (and its limits), betrayal, family, suicide, grief ...