REVIEW: Shakespeare x5, Hand Theatre, EdFringe 2026 ★★★

At its best Shakespeare x5 is wonderful. Inflatable galore in Hand Theatre’s retelling of Romeo & Juliet, five times. Ivomir Ignatov-Kenny and Zdravka Hristozova, ‘partners on stage and in life’ clown and play with the audience charmingly as they go through Shakespeare’s eternal youthful tragedy. They repeat the play, because they assert ‘we didn’t understand’. It’s an interesting form, and one I feel has some more potential. 

The first telling of the story is the longest and the most rote – probably by design. Ignatov-Kenny and Hristozova are charming here but the plot, despite its abridgement, feels like it’s being put through the motions a little, perhaps because its so well known. But the second iteration, in which the plot is sped-up is probably one of the best clown sequences I’ve seen at the festival, it has all this beauty and melancholy in it, just great theatre. The show didn’t quite reach the heights it had here again for me, as the play was once again performed slowed down, and then with audience members playing the star-crossed lovers, and then with ‘contemporary theatre’ and its funding in mind. 

For me, this is the trickiest part of the show. There are many people with issues around how arts funding works in Europe and beyond, but there’s an element of this satire which teeters on the edge of bad faith. Representations of minorities are not lampooned but used as punchlines in a way which is subtle enough for me to give the benefit of the doubt but does leave a sour taste in the mouth. Ignatov-Kenny and Hristozova seem to have their heart in the right place – and their broad observation that the funding is difficult to come by is true though. 

A moment of the show in which Ignatov-Kenny urges us to destroy everything feels remarkably like one of Boal’s mis-steps in which he accidentally incited his audience to riot — I’m not sure if it is the theatre’s function to destroy everything, even if this is of course, a power within it. The audience agreed it’s probably best not to destroy, leading to a rather awkward waving of swords. 

But on the whole, this is bold stuff. It has got a real heart and a real sense of art. Ivomir Ignatov-Kenny and Zdravka Hristozova are beautiful clowns and have a beautiful show here. It’s worth watching for it’s sheer ambition, and it ought to have further life, perhaps with more non-verbal clowning, as here, as well as on the production design is where the piece genuinely excels. 

Recommended Drink: I will kiss thy lips. // Haply some poison yet doth hang on them // To make me die with a restorative.

You can catch Shakespeare x5 at Zoo Playground until August 30 at 11.30 (60mins). Tickets are available through the EdFringe Online Box Office.