One-person shows are the heart and soul of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Small, intimate performances that showcase talent can, through minimalism and skill, be incredibly powerful and memorable moments of theatre. Alas, a minimal approach also leaves little room for error and can highlight many flaws.

Horatio, in Thy Heart, is a strong and well-thought-out one-person show version of Hamlet, told from the perspective of one of Hamlet’s closest friends and allies.  It’s an extremely small venue, and a very simply produced show.  Costume, lighting, and sound are all simple but effective. The costume is very good; it’s not easy to do a good-looking ruff at the fringe.

Horatio’s own story, his unrequited love for Hamlet and his own complicated relationship with the supernatural do add some spice to this fairly straightforward story, one that most audiences already know. (And yes, this is a show that assumes you know the plot of Hamlet.)

Voice-overs are used fairly effectively, mostly to break up the rhythm of the performance and to make this less of a monologue.  The core conceit is that Horatio is in love with Hamlet, and because we never meet Hamlet, this relationship seems one-sided. This adds to the tragedy of Hamlet, a story that is already pretty grim.

Merlin Stevens is both the writer and performer of Horatio In Thy Heart, and this makes the whole production all the more intimate. It’s a strong performance with a slightly underdeveloped script. Solid and worth a look.

You can book tickets for the Edinburgh Fringe show here and learn more about the artist here.