Hamstrung is a one-hour theatre show that seeks to tell the story of Yorick from Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Yorick was the court jester/fool/entertainer to Hamlet and his father, and he appears in Hamlet as a skull as the play draws towards its climax.
The idea of telling minor characters’ stories from the background of Shakespeare’s plays is not new. Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead made its debut at the Edinburgh Fringe in 1966 and has since had global success.
In more recent years, plays focused on female characters: Ophelia for example, have become more prominent, and former West End and current Broadway production & Juliet takes the ending of Romeo & Juliet and asks ‘but what if’.
Here, performer George Rennie has imagined how Yorick would react to the events of Hamlet if he were able to witness them.
The performance opens with the stage covered with flower petals, candles, a few bottles, and myriad sheets of paper. Nothing much happens for a few moments, and it is eventually realised that an audience member needs to step onto the stage and read from one of the pieces of paper propped up against one of the bottles.
Yorick then joins us, and begins to explain who he is. Here, he appears in human form, although his state of being becomes clearer as the narrative continues. As we move through the story, he leaves the space on numerous occasions, returning to relate what he has just seen.
If you’re familiar with the narrative of Hamlet, then this will all make some sense. If you are not, then you may well find yourself floundering.
The audience participation also continues, and there is perhaps too much of this. Indeed, the performance’s stop-and-start nature, as an audience member is selected or Rennie leaves the room, makes the entire endeavour somewhat disjointed.
There’s also been an interesting choice made in respect of Yorick’s character – played here as not particularly bright. He doesn’t realise he’s dead until quite far into the performance.
The choice to have Yorick be the ghostly apparition that Horatio and other characters encounter throws the entire premise of Shakespeare’s original work into question and potentially invalidates the actions of Hamlet as a tragic figure. Whilst an intriguing premise, there isn’t the time to explore it in any depth here.
There’s a good, strong premise here, and Rennie is obviously a talented and bold performer. But it just doesn’t all quite gel and the story needs to be much clearer. This would help expand the audience, as at the moment, only those with a good familiarity with the original text will appreciate what’s happening off-stage during one of Yorick’s disappearances.
HAMSTRUNG continues at the Pleasance Courtyard – Baby Grand (venue 33) at 11.30am, until August 26th (not 14th)
