Hamlet Hail to the Thief, the stage show combining Shakespeare’s tragedy with Radiohead’s sixth album, is set to open at London’s Barbican theatre.
The production premiered at Aviva Studios in Manchester last year before running at the Royal Shakespeare theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon.
Co-created by Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke and directors Christine Jones and Steven Hoggett, the production companies have said that Shakespeare’s words and Radiohead’s songs “illuminate one another in thrilling new ways that fuse theatre, music and movement”.
In the show, Elsinore has become a surveillance state and Hamlet and Ophelia’s awakening to the lies and corruption is revealed by ghosts and music.
Thom Yorke said: “I’m into finally bringing Hamlet Hail to The Thief to London, and to the Barbican of all places.
“It is fascinating and very strange to me how this came to life and how it has worked.
“When it revealed itself to us over time, I was shocked, having never had this kind of experience before.
“I am happy for it to be seen by a wider audience in such an intense space.”
Christine Jones said: “Bringing this brutal play into the Barbican’s brutalist space seems fated. I feel fiercely fortunate to regroup with these incisive collaborators and push our work further.
“Both the play and the album continue to speak urgently to the convulsed world we find ourselves in. For me, working on this project is one way to find the ground beneath me.”
Steven Hoggett added: “The chance to put all the learnings into the next stages of a show is a great privilege.
“What were guesstimates and hopes become areas we can now push into, knowing we can create more precision.
“The fact that this is the process that will find its home on stage at the Barbican is truly thrilling.
“The show will become richer in its elision of music, movement and text which makes this space a perfect home.
“I myself have sat in the auditorium on many, many occasions and had the boundaries blown apart as to what theatre might be.
“We’re following some giants but also many of my personal inspirations.
“In this way we hope to continue this dazzling tradition – a commitment to theatre that looks to meet the expectations of a multi-generational audience with an intention to be as radical as we are reverential.”
Samuel Blenkin – best known for Alien: Earth and Bong Joon-ho’s Mickey 17 – will reprise the title role.
Ami Tredrea returns as Ophelia, while Paul Hilton is Claudius and the Ghost, Claudia Harrison is Gertrude, Alby Baldwin appears Horatio, Brandon Grace is Laertes, and Felipe Pacheco is Guildenstern.
Other cast members include Romaya Weaver as Barnarda and Player Queen, and Marienella Phillips as Offstage Swing.
Released in 2003, Hail to the Thief was Radiohead’s sixth studio album and included singles like There There, 2+2=5, and Go to Sleep.
Recorded in the wake of the September 11 attacks and the subsequent War on Terror, it underscored a period of paranoia, fear and anxiety, with dystopian themes incorporating Orwell-inspired lyrics and theatrical, Brothers Grimm style fables.
Hamlet Hail to the Thief will run at the Barbican Theatre from October 31 2026 until January 23 2027.
Tickets go on sale to the public at 10am on Friday June 26.
