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Hamlet Hail to the Thief

  • Olivia Scull
  • May 20
  • 2 min read
Hamlet Hail to the Thief. Photo credit Manuel Harlan.
Hamlet Hail to the Thief. Photo credit Manuel Harlan.

Hamlet by William Shakespeare adapted by Christine Jones with Steven Hoggett. Music by Radiohead. Directed by Steven Hoggett and Christine Jones. Orchestrations by Thom Yorke. At The Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon froom 4 – 28 June.

Preview.

 

Hamlet Hail to the Thief is a feverish new live experience, fusing theatre, music and movement created by Christine Jones, Steven Hoggett and Thom Yorke. In this dynamic new version of Hamlet Shakespeare’s words are illuminated by Radiohead’s album Hail to the Thief re-worked by Yorke and performed live by a cast of musicians and actors.


The world premiere of Hamlet Hail to the Thief opened on 7 May, at Aviva Studios, Factory International, Manchester where the production ran until 18 May. It now transfers to the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford Upon Avon from 4 June - 28 June. Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke, and celebrated directors, Steven Hoggett and Christine Jones have joined forces for this frenetic adaptation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet haunted by Radiohead’s celebrated 2003 album Hail to the Thief.


World Premiere of Hamlet Hail to the Thief. Photo by Manuel Harlan.
World Premiere of Hamlet Hail to the Thief. Photo by Manuel Harlan.

Samuel Blenkin plays Hamlet, alongside Ami Tredrea as Ophelia, Paul Hilton as Claudius/Ghost, Claudia Harrison as Gertrude, Alby Baldwin as Horatio, Brandon Grace as Laertes, James Cooney as Rosencrantz, Felipe Pacheco as Guildenstern, Tom Peters as Polonius and Romaya Weaver as Gravedigger.  The cast is completed by Daniel Davids, Kieran Garland and Marienella Phillips who are all Off-Stage Swings. The band includes Ed Begley, Tom Brady, Joe Downard, Shane Forbes, Megan Hill, Tom Knowles and Adam Martin.


Hamlet Hail to the Thief. Photo credit Manuel Harlan.
Hamlet Hail to the Thief. Photo credit Manuel Harlan.

Hamlet Hail To The Thief is adapted from Shakespeare’s Hamlet by Christine Jones with Steven Hoggett, directed by Steven Hoggett and Christine Jones, with music by Radiohead, orchestrations by Thom Yorke, scenography by AMP featuring Sadra Tehrani, arrangements by Justin Levine, music supervision by Tom Brady, choreography by Jess Williams, sound design by Gareth Fry, projection design by Will Duke, lighting design by Jessica Hung Han Yun, costume design by Lisa Duncan, casting by Charlotte Sutton CDG for the RSC, with text consultancy and dramaturgy from Ayanna Thompson.


In this fast-paced distillation of the play, Shakespeare’s words and Radiohead’s album illuminate one another in thrilling new ways as the music becomes a critical part of the narrative. Personally reworked by Yorke, the deconstructed album is performed live onstage by a cast of 20 musicians and actors. 


Shakespeare and Radiohead. Photo credit Manuel Harlan.
Shakespeare and Radiohead. Photo credit Manuel Harlan.

Elsinore has a new ruler and hectic runs in the blood of its citizens. Hamlet Hail To The Thief centres on Hamlet and Ophelia’s awakening to the lies and corruption in Denmark, gradually revealed by ghosts and music. Paranoia reigns and no one is spared a tragic unravelling.


Hail to the Thief (2003) is Radiohead’s sixth studio album with singles including ‘There There’, ‘2+2=5’ and ‘Go to Sleep’. Recorded in the wake of the September 11 attacks and the subsequent ‘War On Terror’, the album underscores a period of paranoia, fear and anxiety, using a striking mix of rock, unsettling sound experiments and lullaby piano ballad, with dystopian themes incorporating Orwell inspired lyrics and theatrical, Brothers Grimm style fables.

 

 

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