HAMLET'S UNCLE HAS HIS SAY!

Ten years on from its world premiere, Robert Cohen re-stages his solo show Something Rotten (or The Claudius Complex), re-telling the events of the world’s most famous play from the viewpoint of King Claudius, the uncle-turned-stepfather whose regicidal, fratricidal activities awaken the vengeful impulses of his nephew-turned-stepson, Prince Hamlet.

“Claudius is an endlessly intriguing character,” says writer-performer Robert Cohen; “We know he murdered Hamlet’s father and married his mother, but beyond that, we don’t have too much to go on. How long has he had designs on his brother’s crown? How long have he and Gertrude been at it? And how, one wonders, did he get on with his nephew, prior to recent events?”

Directed by Jenny Rowe, Something Rotten was premiered in 2015 at the Barnstaple Fringe TheatreFest, where one punter called it “A great show for those familiar or, like me, unfamiliar with Hamlet.” Hailed by The Stage as "a smartly written reimagining" of Hamlet, the show went on to win an Argus Angel at the 2016 Brighton Fringe.

Robert Cohen has specialised in characters “beyond the pale”, from the Russian mafioso Stepan in the BBC sitcom Ideal to the real-life McCarthyite supergrass in The Trials of Harvey Matusow (FringeReview Outstanding Theatre Award) to the traffic warden Quint in High Vis – also seen in Barnstaple, as was Robert's Jewish memoir Dog's Chosen on his last visit in 2019.