Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke, and celebrated directors, Steven Hoggett and Christine Jones join forces for a frenetic adaptation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet haunted by Radiohead’s celebrated 2003 album Hail to the Thief.
The world premiere of Hamlet Hail To The Thief will run at Aviva Studios, the landmark new home of Factory International, Manchester from 27 April – 18 May 2025 (Press Night 7 May) before transferring to Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford Upon Avon from 4 – 28 June 2025 (Press Night 12 June). Tickets go on sale a 10am on 2 October 2024 at factoryinternational.org and rsc.org.uk
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 will be performed live onstage by a cast of 20 musicians and actors.
Thom Yorke said “This is an interesting and intimidating challenge! Adapting the original music of Hail to The Thief for live performance with the actors on stage to tell this story that is forever being told, using its familiarity and sounds, pulling them into and out of context, seeing what chimes with the underlying grief and paranoia of Hamlet, using the music as a ‘presence’ in the room, watching how it collides with the action and the text. Ghosting one against the other.”
Elsinore has become a surveillance state 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 unraveling.
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.
Christine Jones said “The first Radiohead concert I ever saw was the Hail to the Thief tour in 2003. It changed my DNA. Not long after, I was reading Hamlet and listening to the album. Paying attention to the lyrics, I became aware of how many songs from Hail to the Thief speak to the themes of the play. There are uncanny reverberances between the text and the album. For years I’ve wanted to see the play and album collide in a piece of theatre; eventually I shared the idea with Thom, who was intrigued. I wasn’t sure what we would make, but I knew I wanted to make it with Steven and continue experimenting and building on work we have done together over many years.
We’ve found that the play haunts the album, and the album haunts the play. Both reflect the internal disquiet and rage that result from despair – in particular despair arising from scrutiny of dominant power structures- whether within governments, communities, or families. The text and music probe us relentlessly to question what we are made of, and how to discern right from wrong.”
Olivier award-winner Steven Hoggett is a founder member of Frantic Assembly whose credits as a choreographer include The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime and Black Watch.
Tony and Olivier award-winner Christine Jones is Creator and Artistic Director of Theater For One, and director of New York immersive nightclub experience, Queen of the Night. Their projects together as choreographer and designer include Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, American Idiot and Let the Right One In.
