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Radiohead’s vocalist and frontman Thom Yorke has been working alongside Tony award-winning directors Christine Jones and Steve Hoggatt to bring his ideas to life. The show is a modern adaptation of the Shakespeare classic ‘Hamlet’, which Radiohead announced the production of on Instagram in 2024, sharing Yorke’s nerves and excitement to attempt this new project.    

 

 

 

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‘Hamlet: Hail to the Thief’ premiered in Aviva Studios in Manchester in April and will continue to show here until 18 May. In June, the production will then be available to attend in Stratford’s Royal Shakespeare Theatre.

Radiohead’s ‘Hail to the Thief’ did not originally come to be with inspiration from Shakespeare’s Hamlet. The band explained the inspiration for the record and its political focus in interviews upon its release. With Hamlet’s themes on power and corruption, the relationship between the two projects makes for an exciting production. 

Yorke explained in an interview with The Observer, that he realised the connection between ‘Hail to the Thief’ and Hamlet long after the album’s creation. Director Jones also shared that she found a relationship between the play’s dialogue and the album’s lyricism. Here, Yorke went on to reveal his initial hesitation, thinking Hamlet was “untouchable”. However, he pressed on with the production since “the idea didn’t go away”. When reimagining the album as a theatrical performance, Yorke considered how the music would translate to live theatre, expressing that he wanted, “a band playing, but rather than an orchestra in a pit, actually playing. Not playing as a covers band.” 

The trailer is dark and ominous, sparking excitement with fans. Those who have seen the Manchester premiere have shared images from the show, revelling in the magic of the production.

Words cannot express the experience that was Halmet Hail to the Thief. #HailtotheThief #hamlet #avivastudios pic.twitter.com/Xmw76vZEjy

— Dara (@GhostofDara) April 27, 2025

Yorke’s creative endeavours reach great heights in theatre and music, with an upcoming album ‘Tall Tales’ with Mark Prichard along with a global screening event on 8 May. Tickets are available here, and tickets for upcoming dates of ‘Hamlet: Hail to the Thief’ can be found on the Factory International website and the Royal Shakespeare Company website.

Songs from Hail To The Thief, released over 20 years ago, will be deconstructed and remoulded into a score to be performed by live musicians and cast members. Thom Yorke will taking the musical helm, after having proved himself as a composer for previous soundtracks, including Confidenza this year and 2018’s Suspiria. His upcoming orchestrations were commented upon by the frontman himself.

According to a post he made on Instagram, he says:

“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.”

Thom worked alongside designer & director Christine Jones and director & choreographer Steven Hoggett to create a new adaptation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet - a tragedy about a son who has to find his own way, after his father is murdered. Who could forget Disney’s The Lion King hugely popular adaptation!

After vividly remembering hearing the album for the first-time, Christine Jones makes the case to use Hail To The Thief:

“It changed my DNA,” she recalled. “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 [Hoggett] and continue experimenting and building on work we have done together over many years.”

She added: “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.”

It doesn’t seem much of a stretch, as Radiohead share another William Shakespeare adaptation, after they featured Talk Show Host.on the soundtrack to Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo and Juliet (1996).

Radiohead’s foray into the theatre world will commence with the production’s world premiere taking place at Aviva Studios, Manchester, home of Factory International from 27th April – 18th May 2025, before moving to the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon from 4th – 28th June 2025.

If you subscribe to W.A.S.T.E., – the official Radiohead and Radiohead-related news, tour tickets and merchandise – you can get early access to tickets on Tuesday 1st October 2024 at 10am BST. Otherwise, tickets are available on general sale on Wednesday 2nd October 2024.