HAM Review at Soho Theatre London

Does the world of theatre really need another Hamlet adaptation? Well, in the case of Hotter Project’s HAM at Soho Theatre, which takes Shakespeare’s classic play and puts it in a blender with a vegan and a self-proclaimed ‘sausage-lover’. The answer is emphatically yes!

Created and performed by Mary Higgins and Ell Potter, HAM has landed at Soho Theatre after an acclaimed Edinburgh Fringe run this summer. It reframes Hamlet as a vegan, eco-conscious teenager desperately trying to convince his ignorant mother, Gertrude, of the horrors of the meat industry and the moral necessity of making better choices. Higgins and Potter effortlessly weave their way between Shakespearean verse and absurdist, modern comedy. Well-known lines like “O, that this too too solid flesh would melt” are twisted and spun into an entirely new perspective.

Under Ursula Martinez’s direction, HAM manages to cleverly parody that kind of activist theatre that is ten a penny on the Edinburgh Fringe and be a shining example of the art form. Rūta Irbīte’s set evokes the slaughterhouse with a blood-soaked red PVC floor, and a hanging curtain that doubles as a screen to showcase harrowing footage of the meat industry that would challenge even the most ardent carnivore.

As you sit in the trendy and tiny Upstairs at Soho Theatre, you can’t help but feel that Higgins and Potter are preaching to the converted. Indeed, when one section of the show requires a meat-eater to be brought up on stage, there’s barely a single hand raised. But it’s not a show that lingers too long in the ‘vegan reckoning’ that can feel clichéd and tired. I was, however, struck by some of the facts, including how opting for a vegan diet for just breakfast and lunch and then gorging on meat for dinner reduces your annual carbon footprint to less than that of a practising vegetarian.

Higgins tells us, though, that it isn’t solely about the murder of animals, but also the murder of our planet, and that becomes all too apparent as a month’s worth of floods, droughts and forest fires edges ever closer to home, until London and Edinburgh themselves are shown. The crisis feels more existential than ever.

It’s silly and clever; it’s riotous and thought-provoking; it’s perfect for Shakespeare aficionados and comedy fans; for vegans, meat-eaters and those in-between, and I challenge anyone not to think ‘to eat, or not to eat’ the next time bacon or sausages are on the menu.

HAM plays at Soho Theatre until 31 October 2026.

Where I Sat

Seating in Soho Theatre’s Upstairs space is unreserved and can hold around 100 people, primarily on a central bank of seats five or six rows deep, with two further side sections, each two rows deep. Most seats offer a comparable view, but beware of seats in the second row of the central bank as there is no rake here, so heads can be an issue.  

Reviewed by Nathan Pearcefor SeatPlan, October 2026