Hail to the Radiohead Hamlet
- Paul Genty
- 2 minutes ago
- 2 min read
Anticipation is building for Hamlet Hail to the Thief, the dynamic new version of Hamlet featuring Shakespeare’s text illuminated by Radiohead’s album Hail to the Thief.
The music has been reworked by the band’s Thom Yorke and will be performed live by a cast of musicians and actors at Manchester’s Aviva Studios (from April 27- previews; then officially from May 7-18) before transferring to the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford (June 4-28).
Images from the rehearsal room by Manuel Harlan can be seen here. Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke, and celebrated directors Steven Hoggett and Christine Jones have joined forces for this fast-moving adaptation of the play.
The pictures variously show cast members Samuel Blenkin (Hamlet), Ami Tredrea (Ophelia), Paul Hilton (Claudius/Ghost), Claudia Harrison (Gertrude), Annabel Baldwin (Horatio), Brandon Grace (Laertes), James Cooney (Rosencrantz), Felipe Pacheco (Guildenstern), Tom Peters (Polonius) and Romaya Weaver as the gravedigger.
Hamlet Hail To The Thief centres on Hamlet’s and Ophelia’s awakening to the lies and corruption at Elsinore, gradually revealed by ghosts and music. Paranoia reigns and no one is spared a tragic unraveling.
Hail to the Thief (2003) was Radiohead’s sixth studio album, singles from which included There There, 2+2 = 5 and Go to Sleep.
Recorded in the wake of the September 11 attacks, 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.
Personally reworked by Yorke, the deconstructed album will be performed live on stage by the actors and a band including Ed Begley, Tom Brady, Joe Downard, Shane Forbes, Megan Hill, Tom Knowles and Adam Martin.
More info and tickets here