How Shakespeare and Radiohead spawned a masterpiece: Behind the creation of Hamlet Hail to the Thief

Detailed summary

Exclusive: The Standard gets a behind-the-scenes look at the stunning production

One of the most eagerly-anticipated stage shows of year is drawing fans of Shakespeare and Radiohead to the Barbican in their droves.

Co-created by Thom Yorke, Christine Jones, and Steven Hoggett, Hamlet Hail to the Thief is a frenetic and dystopian take on Shakespeare's masterpiece, in which the band’s 2003 album becomes part of the narrative, movement, and overall experience.

"It shouldn't work", the actor playing Hamlet told The Standard. Even the Radiohead frontman calls the piece "sacrilege" to Shakespeare's art.

The Standard got an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the set and sat down with co-director Christine Jones and Samuel Blenkin, who plays the protagonist, to hear how the idea had been brewing for over 20 years.

For Radiohead fans, it's the first opportunity to see any form of the band's art live since they toured across Europe at the end of last year, or since The Smile - Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood's side project - released Wall Of Eyes in 2024.

It's not the frontman's debut on the stage (figuratively speaking) either. He composed the music for the 2015 Broadway production of Harold Pinter's Old Times, but Hamlet Hail to the Thief certainly feels like his most involved.

“Thom was embroiled in every step of the production. He was in our rehearsals, our tech rehearsals, he worked on the music with Justin Levine [arranger] and Tom Brady [musical director] and was an incredible collaborator throughout the whole process”, co-creator and co-director Christine Jones told The Standard.

“He was determined that there not be needle-drop songs, that it was always being reimagined and pulled apart. Sometimes he took a piece of music that might be played on a piano and have it played on guitar, or have it played on a synth. So he was experimenting throughout the whole process.”

In fact, the concept has been long in the making. The idea came to Christine all the way back in 2003, when she saw Radiohead play the then-new Hail To the Thief album live, while she was…

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