Ham review – Hamlet gets a porcine permutation

The Hotter Project, made up of Ell Potter and Mary Higgins, returns to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with Ham, the latest dance-infused, whimsical, yet incisive show, directed by Ursula Martinez.

Blending performance with confessional anecdotes, the duo seamlessly inject themselves into proceedings for a deeply personal reflection on what we eat.

In this setup, Mary is a devout vegan, while Ell is a lover of sausage and meat. Together, they wade through the veganism versus meat debate with a cracking twist: doing it all through the medium of retelling Hamlet.

Initially starting conventionally with meat-related puns inserted into iconic scenes (“O that this too, too solid flesh would melt” etc), they boil the tragedy down to just Hamlet and Gertrude, while Ophelia is played by a cat’s ashes. It is incredibly funny, incredibly insightful, and a classic case of coming at the climate catastrophe debate through a side door.

While confronting ideas around animal welfare, it is the eco aspect and what “climate-conscious theatre” looks like that takes centre stage. Exposed with well-executed audience interaction (a man called Dom had an excellent, fleeting cameo) and video design, the show hits on its most fascinating revelation: Hamlet’s procrastination across Acts II and III is exactly the same as the procrastination humanity faces today. We know we need to act, and we know how to act, but we simply aren’t acting.

Stirring, galvanising, and extraordinarily entertaining, Ham only needs another five minutes’ worth of beats to reach perfection: something they will surely find with any subsequent runs. But as it stands, it is a great show that skewers apathetic perspectives, chewing through the consequences of our modern existential dread.

See all our Edinburgh Fringe reviews in the guide below.