It is August which only means one thing – it is Camden Fringe time! Over the next few weeks we are chatting to acts that are performing at the festival and finding all about their show and what they would call this years iconic Camden Fringe Pigeon! Today we find out about the show A Two Women Hamlet

Date: 28th, 29th & 30th August
Time: 19:00
Price: £10 Concession £8
Location: SHAKEFEST @ Old Red Lion

Ticket Link:https://camdenfringe.com/events/a-two-woman-hamlet/

Tell us a little bit about your style of show?

A Two Woman Hamlet is that most famous of plays, reenacted in just one hour by only two women. It is Shakespeare’s plot and his verse, but we’ve been a little bit irreverent and rather a lot inventive. We wanted to give women (us) an opportunity to play roles we wouldn’t typically be considered for – and to bring insights to those roles that could only come from a female creative team.

It’s multi-rolling madness, with characterisations developed out of the necessity of strong, contrasting physical and vocal choices. The very nature of swapping hats, and adopting different postures and voices in order to play two characters having a conversation with themselves is inherently funny, we *know* that.

We want you to laugh – we’re being ridiculous. But we also really lean into the tragedy and high drama, because we didn’t want to cheat ourselves, or our audience, out of those moments. It’s a very cathartic experience, watching and performing, which is of course, in the Aristotelian vein, the essential purpose of tragedy. *PRETENTIOUS THEATRE KLAXON ALERT*

However, this is by no means a definitive Hamlet. It could never be – it’s two women running around like headless chickens trying to tell a needlessly complex story. But *SOUND THE PRETENTIOUS THEATRE KLAXON ALERT AGAIN* we would argue, nay, declare, that no production could ever claim to be “definitive”. A Two Woman Hamlet adds to our collective consciousness of what Hamlet can be – of what the story represents to each individual viewer. 

We always tell ourselves that we’re “playing the Hamlet game”. Think back to when you were a snot-nosed little kid who was really into role-playing games. Your game had a title, and there were different parts to play, different story beats to hit – and you and all your equally snot-nosed acolytes knew each part and each beat well enough to progress the narrative every lunch-break – with some new development, some new dimension to each character, every time. That’s what we’re doing. With a bit less snot.

What other acts are you looking forward to seeing at the fringe?

As a team, we’re preoccupied by women-led theatre, and have developed – or are in the process of developing – one-woman shows (not because we can’t bear working together anymore, I HASTEN TO ADD!) – so I personally would like to see Baby Brain, as it’s exploring themes I’m tackling in my own work and I think Kimberley Nixon is a fantastically funny performer.

Grave Matters also looks like a good fit for us – the Two Woman Hamlet team spends too much time hanging around graveyards, having hilarious bantz with local gravediggers, when we ought to be getting on with that whole “avenge-death-of-father-by-killing-murderous-uncle” thing. And Echoes – a one-woman show giving women from classical literature the opportunity to tell their stories? That’s right up our street.

How are rehearsals going?

We have been performing this show, with different cast iterations and revised versions of the script for over a year. So obviously rehearsals run with efficiency, professionalism and strict adherence to the task in hand… Okay, I lied. We turn up late (thanks to the vagaries of public transport in Colchester), p*** about and have long meandering chats before we get down to business. 

In seriousness, we’re into our second year of producing this show and the extraordinary thing is, we still make new discoveries about our characters and their relationships all the time. When that stops happening, maybe it will be time to put this play to bed. Maybe… I’m personally concerned I’ll never get another role as good as THE ENTIRE CAST OF HAMLET – so I’m a little reluctant to let this go.

What is the best thing about performing at the Camden fringe?

We’re thrilled to be returning to the Old Red Lion Theatre – it’s a beautiful venue with a fabulously supportive team (big up Jack Robertson and Shakefest). So that’s one of the best things.

Last year we had a whale of time at the launch party – we were a little apprehensive about this huge “networking” (urgh) event. But suddenly, we realised we were at a party with the most supportive crowd of fellow theatre nerds. We wanted to talk about our play, they actually wanted to hear about it – and we wanted to listen to their descriptions of their own work, and bask in their enthusiasm and creative pride. It was less the stuff of corporate nightmares, and more an uplifting circle jerk of positivity and mutual encouragement.

London can be an expensive place to perform in – what key advice would you give to performers that is a sort of life hack?

The secret is… have a s**** tonne of money. Somehow, get hold of some. It really is the answer to all life’s problems. Post photos of yourself on your socials with big, wet puppy-dog eyes and hands, sort of, cupped in front of you – y’know what I mean! Caption it with something like “Money please ???” and tag rich relatives, randoms who live in Dubai – that kind of thing.

We did badger our wider acquaintance to donate to our legit crowd-funder and that basically financed our show last year. We are so grateful to our donors! If you can set up something like that, you might be surprised by how generous people can be.

Who would be your ultimate dream audience member?

Someone who laughs in the right places –  and also in the wrong places – because that surprise makes you think of your own work afresh. 

I prefer not to know who’s in the audience really. I remember a moment performing at Camden last year where I became conscious of the fact that I knew the entirety of the left-wing of the audience, and it put me off my stride a tiny bit. Not for long, I was able to sink back into character and mime sex acts with panache, right in front of my 96-year-old uncle/university friends I hadn’t seen for years/parents-in-law. I am a professional.

The iconic image of the Camden Fringe is the Pigeon – if you could call this year’s pigeon a name to represent its style what would it be and why?

This year’s pigeon is wearing a leather jacket, so I would call him Claudius in honour of a discussion with my teammates about whether my version of Claudius could wear leather trousers, as he’s definitely *that* kind of middle-aged guy. Our eminently sensible director Nora J. Williams did point out that performing this physically demanding show, during which I typically sweat buckets, whilst wearing leather, sounded like a really stupid idea. So I found some weirdly shiny black denim jeans instead and they do the trick.

If people want to find out more about you, where can they follow you on social media?

For further wacky content from me and my stupendously talented colleagues Deanna Strasse and Lolly Taylor, check out our Insta @twowomanhamlet. We also have a Facebook page for the social media traditionalists – A Two Woman Hamlet. I think Lolly Taylor has been known to post things on TikTok, but they’re young and I don’t want to go there because I’m 42 and I can’t with another social media platform.

And finally in three words – Why should people come and see the show?

(The first part doesn’t count as the three words, it’s merely a preamble (c’mon, you have to let us have a preamble?!)): Against all odds…Makes Hamlet understandable.

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