Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke, alongside celebrated directors Steven Hoggett and Christine Jones, will oversee a new adaptation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet infused with Radiohead’s hit 2003 album Hail to the Thief.
Set to be a blend of theatre, music and movement, the piece is titled Hamlet Hail To The Thief, and will see a deconstructed version of the Radiohead album, reworked by Yorke, performed live alongside 20 musicians and actors. Tunes on the 2003 album include “There There”, “2+2=5” and “Go to Sleep”.
It will see Elsinore transformed into a surveillance state, where two individuals, Hamlet and Ophelia, have their eyes open to a world of lies and corruption.
Yorke explained today: “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.”
Hoggett and Jones previously collaborated on shows like Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, American Idiot and Let The Right One In.
Jones added: “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.”
The show will play first at Factory International in Manchester from 27 April to 18 May 2025, before transferring to the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon, where it runs from 4 to 28 June 2025.
Hoggett concluded “To communicate this expansive narrative, we have found it illuminating and inspiring to look to movement, text, lighting, sound and music to achieve the complexities of the storytelling. We hope that bringing such elements into play means that anyone seeing their first ever Shakespeare will find a variety of ‘ways in’ to enjoy and appreciate what a spectacular play this is.
“We are thrilled to have found two venues with Aviva Studios, home of Factory International and Royal Shakespeare Company that complement each other so well. Both are at the very forefront of asking questions about what theatre can be and are two perfect homes for this show.”
The production also features arrangements by Justin Levine, set design by AMP Collective featuring Sadra Tehrani, sound design by Gareth Fry, music supervision by Tom Brady, video design by Will Duke, light design by Jessica Hung Han Yun, costume design by Lisa Duncan, text consultancy and dramaturgy from Ayanna Thompson and casting by Charlotte Sutton for the RSC.