Watford Palace Theatre at the Edinburgh Fringe
LINDA MARLOWE JOINS GEORGIAN PUPPETEERS TO PLAY HAMLET
Watford Palace Theatre and NFA International Arts & Culture in association with Escalator East to Edinburgh present a Fingers Theatre Tbilisi production of
MY HAMLET
with Linda Marlowe
Directed by Beso Kupreishvili
My Hamlet combines the inimitable talent of puppetry company Fingers Theatre with actress Linda Marlowe to create Shakespeare’s greatest work as you’ve never seen it before, presented at Assembly @ George Street as part of their 30th Anniversary celebrations.
Fingers Theatre Founder and Director Beso Kupreishvili conceived the idea, based on the notion that every actor believes they would portray the definitive Hamlet if only they had the chance. He would give that chance to somebody who had never played Hamlet, and probably never would. He created a version of the show for the Druskininkai Festival in Lithuania, where the actor playing Hamlet was a clown. In this new version Linda Marlowe is a theatre cleaner who brings Hamlet to life. A team of six puppeteers will play the roles of Claudius, Gertrude, Ophelia, Polonius, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, all voiced by Linda. The show is directed by Beso Kupresihvili.
My Hamlet is one of three productions that Watford Palace Theatre is co-producing as part of its first year at the Edinburgh Fringe. The project is supported by Escalator East to Edinburgh, the Arts Council initiative that enables artists based in the Eastern region to take work to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Escalator East to Edinburgh has been running since 2003 with great success, supporting 21 shows this year, helping to raise the profile of work from the East of England.
Linda Marlowe’s theatre credits include: extensive work with Steven Berkoff, including playing Gertrude in Hamlet, Decadence, The Trial and Metamorphosis. Other theatre work includes; Too Clever By Half and A Flea in Her Ear, directed by Richard Jones (Old Vic), One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest (Manchester Royal Exchange), A Streetcar Named Desire (Sherman Theatre, Cardiff) and recently The World’s Wife by Carol Ann Duffy, which she performed at last year’s Edinburgh Festival. For the Royal Shakespeare Company; The Virtuoso, Twelfth Night and The Theban Trilogy. Film credits include; Big Zapper, Beckett, The Man Outside, Tamlyn, Manifesto, Mr Love, Wasp, The House of Mirth and Day of the Dead. Linda has worked extensively as a solo artist and has been seen at The Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh for many years, being especially invited back this year to celebrate their 30th Anniversary.
Beso Kupreishvili founded Fingers Theatre Tbilisi in 1988 and staged its first full performance, Extravaganza, in 1991. The performance presented a new, unique way of working, with the use of costumed fingers receiving an enthusiastic response from audiences who were impressed by its creativity. As a result the theatre-studio was called "Fingers Theatre" and despite its varying and wide range of performance styles, since then it has kept the same name. Fingers Theatre was one of the first underground theatres in Georgia, becoming prominent as soon as it was established. Now based at the Marjanishvili Theatre in Tbilisi, the company has appeared all over the world including: International Festival of Experimental Theatres in Egypt, Druskininkai Festival in Lithuania, The World Festival of Puppet Theatres in Charleville - Messier, France, Sibiu International Festival of Theatre and International Fadjr Festival in Iran.
Listings:
Assembly @ George Street
Preview Aug 5-6 17:20 (1hr15mins) £5.00
Aug 7-8, 13, 15, 20-22, 27-29 at 17:20 (1hr 15mins) £12.00 (£11.00)
Aug 9-12, 16-19, 23, 25-26 at 17:20 (1hr 15mins) £11.00 (£10.00)
Box Office 0131 623 3030
