How Do I Love Thee? is one of those exhilarating shows we all go to Fringe festivals hoping to find. It is a debut piece by a group of young artists, Aside Hustle, which is well-constructed, well-researched and imaginatively staged. The original music (Noah Davis) and high-quality and era-specific costumes (Claire Thomas) add to the sense of watching a very cohesive show.
Elizabeth Barrett Browning‘s story is one worth telling. The first woman to be nominated to be poet laureate, she overcame terrible illness and an overbearing father. Her elopement with Robert Browning would always have been daring but in her era and in these circumstances, it was even more so.
Ruby Thomas wears many hats here: writer, director, producer & Elizabeth Barrett Browning. She is an articulate and quietly passionate Barrett Browning and her recitals of key poetry pieces are fervently delivered with a real depth of understanding.
Her relationship with the genial Lawrence Lingard as Robert Browning is charmingly appealing and rings very true. I especially enjoyed the stylised form of meeting they showed when they came together each time in their early courtship, showing the passing of time but also the comfort forming in their relationship as they got to know one another and these stylised routines relaxed slowly.
A particular pleasure of the performance is how much the script stayed true to the original words of Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning. This was a wise choice. The two Brownings were two of the finest wordsmiths the United Kingdom has had, so it would be a shame to not benefit from the strength of their words. The play was deliberately slow and meditative in parts as we luxuriated in the correspondence between them.
Their letters were released in 2012 by Wellesley College (Massachusetts) and Baylor University (Texas) and remain a remarkable example of a 19th century couple where the man truly valued the brains of the woman. It was a delight to hear them performed aloud.
The rest of the ensemble are also strong. Daniel Fielding has comic timing which he uses to subtly underline some of his lines as both the conductor and doctor. Fran Bevan was a very plausible brother and the scenes between Edward and Elizabeth were lovably nostalgic: here was another man who believed in Elizabeth. Physical theatre techniques were used to show Elizabeth’s overwhelming devastation about his death. These were very moving and perhaps represented, as Elizabeth herself said, that not all feelings can be shown with words. Eva Vesela‘s two roles of Mary Russell Mitford and Emily Dickinson helped demonstrate that Elizabeth Barrett Browning championed not just her own voice but also that of other women.
Lighting (Lilia Shrubsole) has clearly been carefully considered and differing moods are reflected by different colours. This was generally effective though there were a couple of scenes that I found a little too dark.
For those who love poetry and words, this is a careful insight into a remarkable woman and an indulgently meditative reflection on some wonderful correspondence. For those who love looking forward to those of promise in the future, it is exciting debut by a talented young group.
[Thank you to Aside Hustle for a gifted ticket for an honest review.]
Listings Information
Company: Aside Hustle
Show: How Do I Love Thee?
Venue: Circle and Star Theatre, Hampstead, London NW3
Festival: Camden Fringe 2026
Dates & times: Wednesday 19 and Thursday 20 August 2026, 7.30pm
Tickets: camdenfringe.com/events/how-do-i-love-thee
How do I love thee? is one of the Red Bus picks for the Camden Fringe, find out about the others :
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Letter image: Associated Press. (2012, February 1di0). Detail of the first love letter sent by poet Robert Browning to poet Elizabeth Barrett [Photograph]. Baylor Media & Public Relations. https://news.web.baylor.edu/news/story/2012/baylor-wellesley-project-brings-handwritten-browning-love-letters-digital-age
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