Hamlet Hail to the Thief premiered in 2025 at Manchester Factory International before moving to the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon.
Shakespeare’s great tragedy and Radiohead’s critically acclaimed album collided for a feverish experience that fuses theatre, music, and movement.
In this frenetic distillation of Shakespeare's masterpiece, 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 revealed by ghosts and music. Paranoia reigns and no one is spared a tragic unravelling.
In this adaptation, music becomes an integral part of the narrative. Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke has reworked the band’s critically acclaimed album into a deconstructed score that illuminates the text and is performed by live musicians.
The production is co-created by Yorke and celebrated directors, Steven Hoggett and Christine Jones. Hoggett is a founder member of Frantic Assembly whose other credits include Sweeney Todd, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime and Black Watch. Jones is the Creator and Artistic Director of Theater For One, and director of the 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.
Bringing together the innovation of Factory International and the incredible legacy of the Royal Shakespeare Company, Hamlet Hail to the Thief is equally at home in a vast warehouse and an Elizabethan stage.
Brimming with energy, Hamlet Hail to the Thief distils Shakespeare’s great tragedy to its dark and glittering emotional core.
