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Sam Blythe: Method in My Madness (A One-Man Hamlet)

 
Ben Ludlow Review by Ben Ludlow 3 Published: 14 Aug 2025 Assembly George Square Studios Show Dates: 31 Jul 2025-24 Aug 2025

What a piece of work is Hamlet. How infinite in possibilities. In form and movement, how agile. Yet in truth, it is also poorly stitched together, enigmatic, and full of holes. The plot has flaws everywhere, and much is left unanswered or unexplained in the text. That is its richness. Shakespeare’s Hamlet emerged between 1599 and 1601 and is probably a patched-up version of the original Ur-Hamlet, perhaps by Kyd, with a slightly more credible ghost and some elegant soliloquies to boot. Matching its characters, the play’s flaws create its enigmatic genius. Is there another Shakespeare play to match it?

An interesting concept that needs further work

The Fringe has long enjoyed exploring the versatility of Hamlet, from this year’s wonderful New York Circus trapeze performance to a memorable musical version now many years old. In this production, Sam Blythe presents a new one-man interpretation. Here, an aged actor in a nursing home (also called Sam Blythe) finds trinkets that slowly remind him of his days playing Hamlet. One of these is a red clown nose, which, once donned, draws him back into the role. The play then shifts between a troubled real world – full of lyrical Welsh accents, words of Dylan Thomas seemingly spoken by Richard Burton, and Wlad Fy Nhadau – and Elsinore, where we hear predominantly Hamlet’s lines.

At the epilogue, Sam Blythe (junior) movingly describes the show as a tribute to his father, whom he describes as a wonderful actor who never got the chance to speak Shakespeare in his own accent. Surely Sam Blythe is a perpetual, walking tribute to his father every time he steps on stage. He is a magnetic actor of phenomenal intensity and power, inventive, charming, and full of skill. He can turn on a knife-edge between comedy and pathos. I had the privilege of watching his breathtaking Animal Farm, showing daily at 13.00, and both shows are remarkable (and unmissable) solo efforts. If Sam Blythe’s performance prowess is inherited, that is already quite a legacy, and all his performances are, to my mind, fine tributes to his genes.

Tribute aside, speaking dispassionately, there are probably better things that Sam Blythe can do with Hamlet than this. The concept doesn’t fully leap from the stage. The decision to use a clown nose to denote Hamlet is problematic, as we hear the lyric beauty of Shakespeare’s verse spoken through a pinched nose. It might have been better to place the clown nose on the real-world persona, leaving Hamlet’s lines to be spoken more clearly. The best moments come when Blythe uses his wickedly inventive character skills to create the Ghost and the Player King. A one-man Hamlet in the style of his Animal Farm would surely be sensational, perhaps still sitting within the wider concept of “an aged actor remembers.”

As a stand-alone show, this is an interesting concept that needs further work. As a tribute, it is deeply moving, and succeeds in Blythe’s attempt to “rage, rage against the dying of the light.”

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The Blurb:

Fringe legend Guy Masterson presents Sam Blythe’s brilliant Hamlet... stripped to the nerve. One man. One role. No certainty. Clown and physical theatre collide with the Bard's words in this brutal, intimate dive into Shakespeare's most puzzling play. Directed by clown genius, Elf Lyons, (Horses; Raven), with beguiling virtuosity, Blythe leads us into Hamlet’s apparently impaired mind in the midst of his mania. 'Is this ruse or reality? A four hundred year old play which feels raw, relevant and freshly made. A triumph. Five Stars!' (List).