Radiohead is collaborating on a new stage production of Hamlet , set to premiere next spring in Manchester, England. The play, Hamlet Hail to the Thief , is being adapted and directed by Christine Jones and Steven Hoggett and will feature re-worked music from Radiohead’s 2003 LP, Hail to the Thief . The production will debut at Aviva Studios in Manchester from April 27 through May 18, 2025 before transferring to Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford Upon Avon, where it will run from June 4-28, 2025.
A press release notes that 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 Radiohead frontman Yorke, the deconstructed album will be performed live onstage by a cast of 20 musicians and actors.” According to a synopsis, in the adaptation Hamlet’s home of Elsinore has become a surveillance state and hectic runs in the blood of its citizens.
Hamlet Hail To The Thief will focus 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 , Radiohead’s follow-up to follow-up to sister albums Kid A and Amnesiac , celebrated its 20th anniversary last year.
The 14-song LP is a notably weird album that Yorke once described as ideal “for shagging.” It also marked the band’s f.
