Many would proclaim a Radiohead-Shakespeare fusion a coming together of the two greatest miracles of consciousness. Others would roll their eyes. On Thursday 12 June, Stratford-upon-Avon’s Royal Shakespeare Theatre was packed with members of the first camp, including the Radiohead band members themselves. The frontman Thom Yorke had reconceptualised Hamlet, adapting the music from the band’s sixth album, Hail to the Thief.
Throughout the show the music did the talking. Swathes of the script were reimagined as song and dance, sometimes interpretatively yet recognisably, always impressively. The staging was bleak, with stark lights and a cold mist drifting through the cavernous theatre. Fans had wondered if Yorke drew on Hamlet for the album before the show was announced. The lyrics of its opening song, “2 + 2 = 5”, for instance, perfectly articulate the prince’s torment: “Are you such a dreamer/To put the world to rights?” Discussing this show, Yorke confirmed that Shakespeare was “totemic” for him. In fact, imposing music on it seemed “a kind of sacrilege”.
We are lucky, then, that Yorke is also “always up for a bit of sacrilege”. But however fruitful the harmonies, such a marriage is also extremely demanding. The show brilliantly rendered perhaps the most acrobatic and sensitive music, and perhaps the most magnetic and intelligent character, ever. So huge credit should go to all involved, especially to the all-singing, dancing and acting Hamlet (Samuel Blenkin), Ophelia (Ami Tredrea) and dark-cloaked Horatio (Alby Baldwin).
The ovation was tremendous but preceded by a hesitant silence. The audience had lost all its mirth and knew why; we had been transported from the hottest day of the year to the coldest night in literature. It is only a truly great artist who can bring out “that within which passeth show”. We were lucky to have enjoyed the work of not just one such artist, but two.
Hamlet Hail to the Thief
Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon
[See also: Laughing at the populist right is not a political strategy]
Content from our partners
Related
This article appears in the 18 Jun 2025 issue of the New Statesman, Warlord