Review: Hamlet Hail to the Thief (Barbican Theatre)

Review by Sam Woodward

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Some things are generally agreed to be matches made in heaven. They go together so well, it's hard to imagine one without the other. Whether it's a food pairing like bread and butter or strawberries and cream, or a famous duo such as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson or Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, there are some indisputable perfect matches. Shakespeare and Radiohead are far from this list. One is a defining figure of English drama; the other is an English rock band renowned for subverting mainstream rock conventions. Hamlet Hail to the Thief aims to bring together these two seemingly contrasting things and create a brand-new match made in heaven. The idea is unorthodox, the concept is tempting, and there was a huge amount of anticipation at the Barbican Theatre last night. Could these two iconic British things, as different as they are, become the newest pairing we didn’t know we needed?

This unusual concept was developed by Christine Jones, a longtime Radiohead fan and multidisciplinary theatre designer. In her own words, she was “haunted by this idea of them being in dialogue with each other”, fascinated by the uncanny similarities between Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Radiohead's 2003 album, Hail to the Thief. Jones, working with fellow co-creator Steven Hoggett, began working on cutting down the five-act epic to a reasonable one-hour-and-forty-minute play as well as adding shards of the Radiohead track list to the mix. With Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke as orchestrator, the form of the Royal Shakespeare Company & Factory International production Hamlet Hail to the Thief began to solidify itself, asking what can be shown through music as well as through classical dialogue. Playing with the darker themes of distrust and paranoia in both works, the play digs into what it really means to be human. 

Quiet, dissonant music plays as audiences enter the Barbican Theatre, while smoke fills the stage and auditorium, with large black cloaks hanging from the top of the stage. There is an immediate sense of foreboding. Thanks to the work of Jones and Hoggett as co-directors, there is a thrilling unease and sense of dread that fills the room before the play starts. But what unfolds is so much more complex than simply a dark revision of Hamlet. The music works as an inescapable, infectious force that moves through the characters, often against their will, with frenzied and uncontrollable power. Working with Jones’ impressively accessible script, which draws the most poignant moments from Shakespeare's play and makes them contemporary, digestible and fearfully relatable, Jones and Hoggett have perfectly judged this play, combining two seemingly contrasting elements into one cohesive and gripping work of theatre. It is both wildly dark and powerfully raucous, with a tender underbelly that glistens throughout.

At the heart of the production is protagonist Prince Hamlet, played by Samuel Blenkin. The character of Hamlet is infamous for his madness, his grief and his loathing of his uncle. Blenkin has all of these in spades, combined with an affecting humanity that makes him the perfect Hamlet. At the beginning, he sits teary-eyed on the edge of the stage, his legs hanging down as he mourns his father. When occupied with powerful feelings, his emotions become bodily, and his expression of pain, confusion and suffering through dance as Radiohead fills the auditorium is exceptional. He can make himself seem small, almost folding in on himself in despair, before becoming large, powerful and physically expansive as his madness and determination to expose his uncle take hold. Blenkin is agonisingly human through his recital of Hamlet's touching soliloquies, and even as he approaches his downfall and draws those around him towards suffering and death, his tenderness remains present and it becomes impossible not to sympathise with him. When he breaks the fourth wall in moments of desperation as he looks out into the audience, Hamlet is not simply raging into the darkness, but addressing, engaging and moving every member of the audience. During “To be, or not to be” and “Alas, poor Yorick”, he comes forward and meets the audience’s gaze, giving these familiar passages an intimate, conversational quality. Radiohead’s music is an immaculate accompaniment to Hamlet’s predicament and eventual downfall, bolstering the story with a melodious rhythmic throbbing, matched well by Ed Begley and Meg Hill's stunningly chilling vocals.

The entire cast of Hamlet Hail to the Thief are outstanding. Claudia Harrison’s Gertrude is both anguished and resolute in her scramble to survive, and Harrison’s performance in the final scenes of the play is movingly tender as realisation hits her too late. Her wide eyes, flailing body and hand raised to her lip give that realisation an agonising physical expression. An affectionate exchange with Hamlet also reveals her capacity for tenderness, though this is quickly swept aside as she prioritises her own power. Paul Hilton is an exemplary villain as King Claudius, providing a wonderfully balanced performance of power-hungry disdain with fragments of remorse and concern which ultimately cannot supersede his narcissism. Hilton’s scenes with Blenkin are a particular highlight, as the rupture between uncle and nephew is portrayed with deep loathing and innate distrust. Hilton’s work as the Ghost is thrillingly unnerving when combined with Will Duke’s projections on screen. Together, Harrison and Hilton’s portrayals are both poisonous and manipulative, and when combined with Nicolas Tennant’s bumbling and ludicrous Polonius, provide the ideal court setting for the play to unfold. Tennant’s time in the play may be short-lived, but he provides a welcome respite from the largely dark play through his witty portrayal.

Rounding out the court are Miles Barrow and Felipe Pacheco as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern respectively. Their timing, movement and control are captivating and their physicality is truly remarkable. Barrow and Pacheco are able to tell the story through the way their bodies move, and their position between Hamlet and his family is physically portrayed with nuance and detail.

Ophelia, a tragic victim within the play, is portrayed by Ami Tredrea. Ophelia’s eventual madness is well balanced with her innocence and obedience, and her gradual downfall is innately moving. Tredrea’s final scene, in which she physically portrays Ophelia’s agony to Radiohead’s music, combined with her outstanding vocals, was a highlight of the evening. Her drowning is cleverly realised through a fall into an illuminated opening in the stage, while the eerie, spine-tingling quality of her voice fits seamlessly into the musical atmosphere. She becomes not only a beautiful image of tragedy, but a vessel in death to bring the play to its bitter end. Her funeral becomes a turning point, as the confrontation between Laertes and Hamlet sets the final catastrophe in motion. Jones’ compressed script adds to the sense of urgency throughout and gives more prominence to Ophelia and Hamlet's love. A white square of light, representing her trapped feelings, gradually closes in on her as the play progresses and her life nears its end. Ophelia is given space to shine as a deeply devoted daughter, a lover and, eventually, a crushed spirit in an affecting portrayal.

Much of the evening's success is thanks to a phenomenal creative team. It is abundantly clear how closely the creative team have worked with Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Radiohead’s album, both to honour and maintain a text from around 1601 and to unabashedly modernise the play, matching the emotional depth of Radiohead while gripping contemporary audiences. AMP featuring Sadra Tehrani’s scenography keeps the set minimal, effectively using square music amplifiers as set boundaries, chairs and ladders where needed. Jessica Hung Han Yun’s lighting is exceptional, utilising bright white lights, warm floor lights and moments of darkness to reflect the themes of oppression, control and confusion throughout. The lighting is particularly mesmerising during movement sequences, adding to the feverish and frenzied states of mind on display. Lisa Duncan’s costume design also balances traditional court attire with contemporary styles, but never feels overly designed or forced, instead using blazers, coats and robes to subtly assist the play as it moves along.

Thom Yorke’s new orchestrations of Radiohead’s music are incredibly assured, working with the plot while paying homage to the Hail to the Thief album. The percussion, bass, guitars, electronic sounds and vocal harmonies work together with such precision that it is difficult to single out one element; their cohesion is itself an achievement. Arranged by Justin Levine and supervised by Tom Brady, the music is at times overly loud but generally is a strong addition to Shakespeare’s script, leaving the audience watching a performance somewhere between rock concert and traditional play which is a magical unification I did not know I needed. The volume suits the rock atmosphere and the dance pieces, but the balance becomes less successful when music competes with vocals or dialogue. Even Hamlet’s entrance is obscured by the music, despite his use of a megaphone, and words occasionally struggle to emerge clearly through the combined sound.

It is often said that opposites attract, and after watching Hamlet Hail to the Thief at the Barbican Theatre last night, I tend to agree. Though the pairing may not be an obvious match made in heaven, the uncanny similarities between Radiohead's album and Shakespeare’s play become apparent through this production. Strangely similar in their distrust of governments and organisations of power, painful humanity and immoral delusion, these two seemingly opposite pieces of work find their partner in a shared search for a moral compass and their shared themes feel surprisingly contemporary. Whether audiences are Radiohead fans, Shakespeare fans, theatre fans, or simply struggling to accept the difficult world in which we find ourselves today, this play is able to relate to them all. Endlessly moving, musically arresting and effortlessly personal, this production proves that sometimes the most contrasting things create the perfect match.

Hamlet Hail to the Thief plays at Barbican Theatre until 23 January 2027. Tickets from www.barbican.org.uk/whats-on/2026/event/hamlet-hail-to-the-thief 

Photos by Manuel Harlan.