Thom Yorke creates new play colliding Shakespeare‘s ‘Hamlet‘ and Radiohead‘s ‘Hail to the Thief’
‘Hamlet Hail to the Thief’ will debut at Aviva Studios in Manchester next year in what Yorke calls “an interesting and intimidating challenge”
Radiohead’s Thom Yorke has created a new play fusing Shakespeare’s Hamlet and his band’s 2003 album, Hail to the Thief.
Hamlet Hail to the Thief will get its world premiere at the Aviva Studios in Manchester next year, before transferring to the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon.
Yorke worked on the adaptation with Christine Jones and Steven Hoggett, with the play described as “a dynamic new version of Hamlet where 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.”
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.”
Hamlet Hail to the Thief will premiere at Aviva Studios from April 27-May 18, 2025, and at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre from June 4-28. Tickets go on sale at 10am on October 2 here and here.
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 o f 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.”
Hoggett added: “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 news of the play arrives after the recent revelation that Radiohead have been rehearsing together again. Bassist Colin Greenwood said this month: “We did some rehearsals about two months ago in London, just to play the old songs. And it was really fun, had a really good time.”
Greenwood didn’t reveal whether a full band reunion could be on the cards, but the band’s ninth and most recent studio album, A Moon Shaped Pool, was released back in 2016, and their last tour together came in 2018.