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Hamstrung

 
Mark Harding Review by Mark Harding 3 Published: 14 Aug 2024 Pleasance Courtyard Show Dates: 31 Jul 2024-26 Aug 2024

So, it turns out Yorick’s Ghost is Hamlet’s Father – confused? It’s not poor Yorick’s fault. Recalled from the dead, he’s just trying to make a jest and cut a caper in front of us, or to just pop outside to cheer up the uncharacteristically gloomy Hamlet. (Apparently, he’s normally a bundle of laughs.) But is it Yorick’s failed attempts to intervene that are making things worse, or is Yorick trapped in iron lines of verse?

Horror, farce, existential crisis and post-modernist text games

Bouncing between elements of clowning, horror, farce, existential crisis and post-modernist text games, the show definitely has its moments, but the meandering script really only works because of George Rennie’s performance skills. You have to be admirably gallus to appear in front of an audience playing someone who has no idea what they are doing. Rennie is also cleverly able to make use of audience participation, and has the appreciable skill to make us comfortable with the process.

So, not a show for dramatic through-line, but if you like digression, charm, a demonstration of a performer’s range and some gentle clowning, then this fits the bill.

And no, we don’t meet Rosencrantz and Guildenstern…

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The Blurb:

Alas, poor Yorick! Though he's not dead... Hamlet's legendary jester is back to dig up the bones of his misspent life in this irreverent resurrection of Shakespeare's greatest tragedy. Join Yorick as he reconnects with his lost love of performance, embarking on a high-spirited journey to discover what really happened in Elsinore. Hamstrung is a stirring and impactful interactive ghost story about the space between live theatre and the afterlife. To see or not to see? There is no question. 'Cleverly taps into the timelessness of one of Shakespeare's most famous works' **** (FringeBiscuit.co.uk).