[6] The New York Times praised his direction of Thomas Strelich's Neon Psalms at The American Place Theater in 1986, saying its "staging subtly veers away from overstatement.
He directed a wide range of avant-garde productions, experimental plays, and modern theater while at Portland Stage, including Mac Wellman's Terminal Hip in the 1989-1990 season (which later won an Obie Award)[5] and Erik Ehn's Wolf at the Door in the 1990-1991 season.
[1][11] D Magazine also highly praised his 2001 production of Twelfth Night and 2006 direction of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.
Staff claimed he was difficult to work for,[13] he staged numerous mediocre shows with production designs imported from other playhouses[13] (most notably A Day in the Death of Joe Egg and The Illusion in the 2005-2006 season),[1] and he hired a director of marketing whose stormy tenure was short and very costly.
Among his more notable productions was the 2006-2007 Salzburg Marionette Theatre production of The Sound of Music, which toured Europe;[1] his 2008 direction of Michael Feingold's Japanoir at the Ensemble Studio Theatre in New York City (which Leonard Jacobs of the New York Press praised for its "brisk direction");[15] and the 2012 production of Curse of the Starving Class for the Wilma Theater in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (the first time he had ever directed a play by Sam Shepard).
[17] Hamburger is married to Melissa Cooper, a former performance artist, actress, and playwright who co-founded the Echo Theatre.