HAMSTRUNG World Premiere Announced As Part of Edinburgh Fringe

Edinburgh Fringe 2024 to present the world premiere of HAMSTRUNG, a new play about Hamlet's Yorick. Written and performed by George Rennie, running 31 July – 26 August – 11.30am at Pleasance Courtyard – Baby Grand.

A soul-searching exploration of the struggles of life as an entertainer, this solo tragicomic ghost story tells the unknown tale of Hamlet's fellow of infinite jest, Yorick, from the other side of the grave. Usually appearing as a skull when his body is exhumed in Act V, Hamstrung flips Shakespeare's most performed play on its head to reflect on themes of comedy, love and the quest for meaning, asking whose stories get to be told and reclaiming the tragedy for the quirky and queer.

Yorick is waiting in the wings. Hovering somewhere between life and death, he tries to figure out why he's there and what the audience want from him. After discovering Elsinore through a mysterious door, he sets out to bring the spark of theatrical joy back to the traumatised Danish court, reconnecting with his lost love of performance whilst accidentally leaving a trail of destruction in his wake.

With audience interaction and light-footed humour, Hamstrung weaves in and out of Shakespeare's narrative, shedding new light on the events of the original and channelling the humour, headiness and hubris of the melancholy Dane.

George Rennie is a writer, performer and theatre-maker working across mediums, often self-producing and creating work collaboratively. He writes existential comedies, speculative narratives and stories that question and intrigue. All his work centres joy and playfulness, seeking to unlock the audiences' inner child by integrating poetry, irreverence and interaction.

After graduating from Central, he toured Europe extensively with the English Theatre Company, and co-created online interactive family adventure, Up, Up, Up and Away! (Creation Theatre, Mercury theatre, 2020). This helped secure funding to develop his first full-length adult play, Spirit Box, a paranormal psychodrama about identity and isolation (Pleasance Islington, 2021; London Horror Festival). As a co-producer he presented Oliver Page's queer screwball comedy, Mating in Captivity, which he performed in at Brighton Fringe and King's Head Theatre (2019).

EDINBURGH FRINGE 2024

THEATRE

HAMSTRUNG

31 July – 26 August

11.30am

(60 mins)

Pleasance Courtyard

Baby Grand

Venue 33

60 Pleasance,

Edinburgh

EH8 9TJ

Tickets £9 - £13

0131 556 6550

https://www.pleasance.co.uk/

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