Radiohead and Hamlet to collide in new theatre production, Hamlet Hail to the Thief

The production, which was re-worked by Yorke, and will be performed live by a cast of musicians and actors, will run at Aviva Studios, the landmark new home of Factory International, Manchester from 27 April – 18 May 2025, before transferring to Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford Upon Avon from 4 – 28 June 2025.

“This is an interesting and intimidating challenge," says Thom Yorke. "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.”

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Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke, and celebrated directors, Steven Hoggett and Christine Jones join forces for a frenetic adaptation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet haunted by Radiohead’s celebrated 2003 album Hail to the Thief. Olivier award-winner Steven Hoggett is a founder member of Frantic Assembly whose credits as a choreographer include The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime and Black Watch.

Tony and Olivier award-winner Christine Jones is Creator and Artistic Director of Theater For One, and director of New York 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.