Interview: George Rennie, Hamstrung

Ahead of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2024, we’re chatting with a range of creatives who will be heading to the city over August to find out more about their shows. Today we’re chatting with George Rennie about his production, Hamstrung.

Can you tell us a bit about you and your career so far.

I’m a London-based writer, performer and theatre-maker with a background in Shakespeare, comedy and interactive theatre. I started out as an actor but have moved into writing and producing over the past five years, and have had four shows performed at theatres from King’s Head (Mating in Captivity, 2019) to the Mercury (Up, Up, Up and Away!, 2020-21) and Pleasance (Spirit Box, 2022). I write existential comedies, speculative narratives and stories about self-discovery, and seek to spark audiences’ sense of childlike wonder by integrating poetry, irreverence and interaction.

What is your show about?

Hamstrung is an interactive one-person retelling of Hamlet from the perspective of Yorick, the deceased court jester who appears in Act V, Scene I as a skull. It takes place in a space between live theatre and the afterlife, with Yorick summoned into the wings every time someone stages Shakespeare’s play. At first, he seeks to entertain the audience, but after dressing up as the King and stumbling upon the world of Elsinore offstage, he accidentally sets in motion the events of the tragedy, digging up the bones of his own untold story and trying to figure out his place in the world.

What was the inspiration for Hamstrung and what’s the development process been to get to this stage?

The story grew out of my ambivalence around being a performer. Having moved into writing and producing during the pandemic, I took a full-time job in theatre marketing  to allow me to move back to London. This was the right decision, but the loss of my actor’s identity and the visibility this brings was a difficult process. Hamstrung allows me to channel Yorick’s absence from the world of Hamlet to revive the joy of performance for both myself and the audience, comment on the invisibility of marginal characters from throughout history, and explore the fascinating existential quandaries that clowns, fools and jesters bring up. I wrote it throughout 2023 and did plenty of WIPs and workshops with actors and audiences to get it to where it is now. It's a really polished show and I can't wait to share it with a wider audience!

What made you want to take Hamstrung to the Fringe?

After a brilliant WIP at the Old Red Lion for Grimfest in October ’23, Edinburgh felt like the natural next step. The play is about a jester, and Edinburgh is one of the biggest gatherings of funny people and performers in the world. The format suits fringe, with playful (and totally optional) audience interaction, lots of laughs and an opportunity to connect directly in an intimate performance setting. Fringe has always been a huge bucket list experience for me, as well as a great platform to connect with audiences and the industry at large. I've seen so much great work in the city, and it's so exciting to be able to contribute something to the incredible culture of the Festival.

Apart from seeing Hamstrung what’s your top tip for anybody heading for Edinburgh this summer?

There is just so much to recommend! I have the best memories of Edinburgh, from classic shows like The Dark Room, Baby Wants Candy and Reuben Kaye's Kaye Hole, to climbing Arthur’s Seat and the Secret Arcade vodka bar. It’s good to have some shows planned and booked before going because doing this on the go can be a bit of a faff, but it’s so important to leave room for spontaneity and allowing someone to catch your imagination with a well-pitched flyer.

Why should people book Hamstrung?

It’s a quirky and original play packed full of laughter and emotion that will make Hamlet fans feel clever and give newbies a gateway into Shakespeare’s most performed play. It tells an original story about a highly recognisable yet unknown character but leaves plenty of room for fun and interaction, blending the best of what Edinburgh Fringe has to offer – big laughs as well as big questions about what live performance can do. It’s about those who are often left out of the history books, so will speak particularly to those who root for the underdog, for the oddballs and the queers. It will also appeal to people who like contemporary reworkings of classic plays, such as Chekhov/Simon Stephen's Vanya, Silent Faces’ Godot Is a Woman and the work of Tim Crouch.

When and where can people see Hamstrung?

The show is on for the whole of the Edinburgh Festival (31 Jul to 26 Aug) at Pleasance Courtyard, Baby Grand. It’s at 11:30 AM and lasts an hour – a perfect late morning theatre slot to start your day. (‘Wake and Shake!’) We’ve also got two relaxed performances on the 7 and 12 Aug for audiences who might require slightly less sensory stimulation, a relaxed approach to making noise, and more information in advance of the show.