Writer: Marina Wright
Marina Wright’s one-woman show, But Never Doubt I Love at the Camden Fringe, is an absolute gem. The concept of a retelling of Hamlet, focusing on the protagonist’s relationship with Ophelia, may sound conventional, but in fact so ingenious is Wright’s writing, so accomplished her acting and singing, that the piece is thoroughly engaging.
Part of the beauty of But Never Doubt I Love is Wright’s constant risk-taking. For a start, she dares to use whole extracts from Shakespeare’s original. But each speech is so compelling delivered that we hear the words afresh. This effect is intensified by a series of clever devices. Hamlet’s soliloquies, for example, are no longer pieces of poised introspection: here he is actively engaged with the voices he hears in his head, addressing them with passion and conviction. At the same time, his emotional complexity is cleverly suggested by his constant fiddling with a Rubik’s cube: a lovely embodiment of a philosophical quandary. Somehow, magically, Wright as Hamlet concludes ‘To be or not to be’ triumphantly clicking the last segment of the cube into place.
Wright’s transitions between Hamlet and Ophelia are the essence of simplicity. There’s no awkward costume change or clumsy signalling of difference. Wright simply and powerfully steps into the other character. Ophelia begins traditionally, mild and submissive, and it’s Wright’s Hamlet that has more surprises as he ranges through subtle gradations of mood. But Wright develops both characters in unexpected and convincing ways.
Things that shouldn’t work just do, such as Hamlet and Ophelia breaking up by text. Hamlet reads out her responses from his phone in exasperation, and then, in a fit of spite, presses call and shouts ‘Get thee to a nunnery’. There is more, so much more, of these inventive, often very funny reimaginings.
And there’s glorious music too. Wright, as Ophelia, gives us everything from O mio babbino caro, as she thinks of her father, through a Schubert song on flowers that hints to her watery death to Mitski’s powerful Nobody as she faces the reality of her loneliness.
There are so many surprises, including the ending. You’ll be engrossed from the start and go on thinking about the show long after you leave. The show’s only slight weakness is the quality of the other voices which simply do not match Wright’s own.
Runs until 14 August 2024
Camden Fringe runs until 25 August 2024
