Review: HAM, Soho Theatre
Photo credit: Jonny Ruff
Ham by Hotter Project takes on the challenge of the common consensus that Hamlet is universal, and if you look closely enough, you can find any meaning you like within its text. This hour long show from Fringe veterans Ell Potter and Mary Higgins gloriously succeeds where many have failed: can you make Hamlet a comedy? And could it, maybe, be about a pig instead of a King?
Never keen to take an easy route, Higgins and Potter have built a cautionary tale, domestic comedy, contemporary commentary and interpretive dance from Shakespeare’s great tragedy, and do so with a confidence that it’s impossible not to be swept along with. They access the audience immediately with relatable humour and shock value, and pull them along into a poignant piece about in-fighting in the broader context of catastrophe.
Ham is Hamlet, but not quite. The excerpts from the play are carefully chosen and comically modified to fit the scenario: the audience is watching a play about veganism, while also watching the creators figure out their own relationship with it. It follows the five-act structure of Hamlet and features only Gertrude (Potter) and Hamlet (Higgins) as they stay mostly true to the beats of the original, but reframe them in the light of their question: should you be a vegan? Is there a good reason not to be a vegan? However, whenever the piece seems to clearly favour one answer, allowing one of the performers to deliver a truly moving and authentic soliloquy on one point of view, it pulls the rug out from under you with comedy, and drags you back into the delightful and often chaotic experience of watching a Hotter Project show. Director Ursula Martinez maximises the space, and keeps things moving, so even if you think you know where it’s going, there’s a palpable sense that maybe the outcome isn’t so inevitable after all.
Rūta Irbīte’s design is simple, but hideously effective. Meat-like framing, dripping scenery, blood shining from under bare feet: the audience is looking at both a stage and a slaughter house. The play is naked both literally and in its revealing of the creators’ agendas, which adds a layer of realism that saves it from feeling too didactic.
There’s some difficult subject matter, which lighting designer David Doyle doesn’t shy away from in the show’s shifting tones and highlights, and it is palpably uncomfortable for some audience members to be confronted with the reality of modern day meat production and consumption. However, Higgins, Potter and Martinez know when to yank the mood into lighter territory, with some expertly curated audience participation, and some unexpected but thematically brilliant utilisation of a “dead cat”.
Theatre that strives to teach the audience a lesson can be the most affecting, but also sometimes the most frustrating. However, Ham swerves the latter and lands the former, in an hour full of surprised laughter and sombre silences in a truly expert balance, that leaves the audience with a smile on their face, and a nagging question in the back of their mind about what they’re putting in their mouth.
A wonderful blend of delicious and revolting.
***** Five stars
Reviewed by: Oli Burgin
Ham plays at London’s Soho Theatre until 31 October, with further info here.
