“After Shakespeare” Edinburgh Festival Fringe reviewed by Martha Hudak

Reimagining Shakespeare’s characters is not an easy task. Lexi Wolfe threw herself into such an effort with her play that she wrote and performed, After Shakespeare, making its premiere at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
Four of Shakespeare’s difficult characters are explored in approximate 15-minute segments during Wolfe’s hour-long play. These are reminiscent of their lives. First is Portia, the female protagonist in the Merchant of Venice, whose wile and strength saves the man she wants to marry.

With each change of character, Wolfe goes behind the screen which is her backdrop to make a slight costume change. Hamlet and King Hal (Henry V) follow before ending with Lady Macbeth.
Wolfe researched, wrote, and added her own imagination to each of these well-known Shakespeare characters. Wolfe has chosen strong and complex characters that Shakespeare developed. Wolfe is very talented and quite adroit in acting each of the four characters.

A bit more exposition in the beginning that provides some background of the Shakespeare character might benefit an audience not deeply familiar with Shakespeare. It would also help to delineate what Shakespeare wrote what Wolfe is adding and her perspective.

While Wolfe does all the work herself in putting together the production, some technical additions might add more impact to her delivery. The genre of this production reminds me of Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, a play where he took minor characters from Hamlet to depict what happened after their encounter with Hamlet. Stoppard was a young, budding playwright in 1966 when it was produced. Perhaps it’s a sign for Lexi Wolfe as a young, budding talent.