Following an acclaimed world premiere last year at Aviva Studios – home of Factory International and the Royal Shakespeare Company – Hamlet Hail To The Thief will have its London premiere at the Barbican Theatre from October 31, 2026 to January 23, 2027.
Shakespeare’s tragedy meets Radiohead’s 2003 album in the production co-created by Thom Yorke and directors Steven Hoggett and Christine Jones.
The Royal Shakespeare Company and Factory International production is presented by ATC Group, Vivek J Tiwary for TEG+ and Nate Koch.
Personally reworked by Yorke, the deconstructed album is performed live onstage by a cast of musicians and actors.
Thom Yorke said: “I’m into finally bringing Hamlet Hail to The Thief to London, and to the Barbican of all places! It is fascinating and very strange to me how this came to life and how it has worked. When it revealed itself to us over time I was shocked, having never had this kind of experience before. I am happy for it to be seen by a wider audience in such an intense space.”
Christine Jones said: “Bringing this brutal play into the Barbican's brutalist space seems fated. I feel fiercely fortunate to regroup with these incisive collaborators and push our work further. Both the play and the album continue to speak urgently to the convulsed world we find ourselves in. For me, working on this project is one way to find the ground beneath me.”
Hamlet Hail to the Thief (Original Cast 2025) Photo by Manuel Harlan
Steven Hoggett said: “The chance to put all the learnings into the next stages of a show is a great privilege. What were guesstimates and hopes become areas we can now push into, knowing we can create more precision. The fact that this is the process that will find its home on stage at the Barbican is truly thrilling. The show will become richer in its elision of music, movement and text which makes this space a perfect home.
“I myself have sat in the auditorium on many, many occasions and had the boundaries blown apart as to what theatre might be. We’re following some giants but also many of my personal inspirations. In this way we hope to continue this dazzling tradition – a commitment to theatre that looks to meet the expectations of a multi-generational audience with an intention to be as radical as we are reverential.”
Samuel Blenkin reprises his role as Hamlet, alongside Ami Tredrea as Ophelia.
Olivier award-winner Steven Hoggett recently collaborated with David Byrne as choreographer on Who Is The Sky?
Hail to the Thief (2003) is Radiohead’s sixth studio album with singles including There There, 2+2=5 and Go to Sleep. The album has sales to date of 457,377 units, according to the Official Charts Company.
Inspired by Thom Yorke’s preparation work for Hamlet Hail To The Thief, Radiohead released Hail To The Thief – Live Recordings last September, revisiting archived tracks from across live shows from 2003 to 2009.
Tickets for the Barbican Theatre go on sale to the public at 10am on Friday 26 June.
Hamlet Hail To The Thief rounds out the Barbican's autumn/winter theatre and dance season.
MAIN IMAGE: Thom Yorke, Tom Knowles and Justin Levine in rehearsal for Hamlet Hail To The Thief in 2025 (credit Manuel Harlan)
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