Young Stratford woman takes to Edinburgh stage to tell brain tumour story
By Oscar Trinick
A YOUNG Stratford actor is channelling Hamlet to tell her story after she was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour.
Olivia Hamblett has taken advantage of her surname’s similarity to Shakespeare’s famously introspective prince and written a solo performance, simply entitled Hamblett, which she is taking to the Edinburgh Fringe next month.
Poignantly, it was on her 16th birthday that Olivia was diagnosed with the brain tumour. She received proton beam therapy and a year of chemotherapy.
Now 23, she lives with this invisible disability, under the ‘watch and wait’ protocol.
Olivia graduated in theatre studies and English literature from Birkbeck, University of London, this summer, has been a member of Playbox Theatre, Ustinov Theatre School and recently Soho Theatre’s Stand Up Comedy Lab.
Talking about her motivation, Olivia said: “When you’re working through something like medical trauma, it’s really helpful to do it in an artistic way as well.
“I basically just read Hamlet and underlined anything that I felt a resonated with me as well as to the human condition, to illness, to ideas of justice and kind of revenge and rest.”
Describing the end result, which she said is both humorous and moving, Olivia added: “I use both contemporary and Shakespearian language, and explore life and death through the medium of Shakespeare’s famous play, questioning what it is ‘to be’.
“It’s a conversation between me – 21st century Olivia whose mind is inside the MRI – and the onstage Hamlet.”
The actor plays both roles. Olivia provides a voiceover while she appears onstage as Hamlet in a costume of short hose and Converse trainers.
Olivia added the play is also a “kind of love letter to Stratford” and hopes “everybody gets something out of it – and that people will find it funny.”
Hamblett will be premiering at the Space on the Mile at Edinburgh from 19th to 26th August.
“The theatre gave me the space for free after they heard about the piece, and they were really inspired by it.”
Unlike Hamlet, Olivia is grateful to her family for their inspiration. This includes her parents, David and Judy, who work in theatre and have their own production company; older brothers Charlie – an actor known for Killing Eve – and Louie whose catering company The Crafty Boys feeds the UK’s film industry. There is also younger brother Arthur, who is a member of Playbox.
As the performance dates loom, Olivia said: “I’m feeling the pressure and am nervous, but have great support from family and friends.”
