The Public Theater has bumped its the first preview of Hamlet, directed by Andrei Serban and starring Liev Schreiber, from Nov. 23 to Nov. 30, due to a delay with the set.

The new official opening of the Shakespeare tragedy is Dec. 19, rather than the announced Dec. 12. The close date of Jan. 2 has been changed to Jan. 9.

Schreiber (of cable's "RKO 281," "A Walk on the Moon," the Public's Cymbeline and Macbeth) plays the Melancholy Dane with Diane Venora (a past Public Hamlet veteran) as Gertrude and Colm Feore ("The Insider" and an alum of Ontario's Stratford Festival) as Claudius.

The third time's a charm for Venora at the Public: In 1982, Venora played Hamlet himself in a staging directed by Joseph Papp, and, in 1990, she played Ophelia opposite Kevin Kline, who also directed.

The new production at the Newman Theatre also features David Wilson Barnes, Christian Camargo (Horatio), Justin Campbell, Lynn Collins (Ophelia), Michael Early, Dion Flynn, Jonathan Fried, Andrew Garman, Adam Greer, Marc Gwinn, Francis Jue, Richard Libertini (Polonius), Hamish Linklater (Laertes), George Morfogen (The Player King), Robert Alexander Owens, Jeremy Shamos, Wendy Rich Stetson and Robin Weigert. Designers are John Coyne (set), Marina Dragichi (costume) and Michael Chybowski (lighting). Elizabeth Swados (Runaways, Doonesbury) provides original music.

Serban's Joseph Papp Public Theater/New York Shakespeare Festival credits include Happy Days, The Cherry Orchard, The Seagull and Cymbeline (among others). He is a respected opera director and heads the master of fine arts acting program at Columbia University.

Tickets ($45) are available at The Public Theater box office, 425 Lafayette Street in Manhattan, or by calling (212) 239-6200.