Date: 8th August
Time: 5.05pm
Venue: theSpace @ Symposium Hall
Rating: ★★★★ (4/4)
Reviewed by: Honour De Pledge

This ticket was another last-minute buy for me. I saw ‘Shakespeare’, thought ‘Oh hey! I know him’ and booked my seat. As I took my place in the queue, however, and found myself to be one of the youngest there, at a venue called the Symposium, I thought perhaps I’d booked some sort of short series of academic lectures. I wasn’t upset at the thought, so to speak, although I had left university two years ago and been very firm against ever doing a master’s.

When I entered and there was already a hooded figure onstage holding a tankard and some twinkling music overlaid with a smooth medieval flute, I knew I was right where I wanted to be.

After Shakespeare plays with what might happen to some of Shakespeare’s most loved (and most hated) characters after their official curtain falls. The eponymous Henry V and Hamlet, and then Lady Macbeth and Portia (from The Merchant of Venice), one after the other, are brought to life (or, rather, back to life) in front of our eyes by one Lexi Wolfe. Oh, it’s a solo show? Did I not mention, it’s a solo show. And it’s done fantastically.

Minimal staging draws attention to Wolfe’s at once strong and sensitive voice. Each character is painted in various shades of captivating, charming and commanding as they fill every square inch of the room. I have never been so vividly within Shakespeare’s hall, and very rarely so close to his characters’ thoughts as when I watched the reflection of fictional memories repeating in Wolfe’s eyes. It’s an inspiring achievement of a show, hilarious and heartbreaking. Wolfe highlights the complexity of Shakespeare’s most complex characters.

I’ve written variations of ‘the Hamlet section was sooo funny’ in my notes no less than four times. The whole show was a barrel of laughs, pointing out hilarities of the original texts that often go completely under the radar and creating new ones. It’s worth mentioning that Wolfe did not introduce any of the characters, trusting her audience to decipher who they were. Hamlet was recognised by all immediately, of course. I have not read The Merchant of Venice, however, and still I found that section just as entertaining as the others.

My only concern was that it might stumble after the very on-theme gender swap halfway through, but my alarm was unwarranted and misplaced. She makes it look easy!

★★★★ – Very Good

Tickets:  After Shakespeare – Edinburgh Festival Fringe