Music

Thom Yorke Adapts Radiohead’s Hail to the Thief for New Production of Hamlet

Thom Yorke Adapts Radiohead’s Hail to the Thief for New Production of Hamlet

Yorke will orchestrate his band’s classic 2003 album for a cast of 20 musicians and actors

Thom Yorke

Thom Yorke, photo by Greg Williams

Radiohead’s pivotal, politically charged 2003 album, Hail to the Thief, will take a Shakespearean turn on stage next spring, when Thom Yorke adapts it for a new production of Hamlet. Titled Hamlet Hail to the Thief, the show will feature William Shakespeare’s text and the songs of Hail to the Thief, which have been reworked and orchestrated by Yorke for a cast of 20 musicians and actors.

Hamlet Hail to the Thief was adapted by director Steven Hoggett and Christine Jones, with arrangements by Justin Levine. Per press materials, the feverish piece will fuse movement, theater, and music into an all-new interpretation of the historic play. The new production depicts the Danish city of Elsinore as a hellish surveillance state, where paranoia a corruption plagues the reign of Prince Hamlet and Ophelia.

“This is an interesting and intimidating challenge!” Yorke said of the project in press materials. “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.”

Jones added:

The first Radiohead concert I ever saw was the Hail to the Thief tour in 2003. It changed my DNA. Not long after, I was reading Hamlet and listening to the album. Paying attention to the lyrics, I became aware of how many songs from Hail to the Thief speak to the themes of the play. There are uncanny reverberances between the text and the album. For years I’ve wanted to see the play and album collide in a piece of theatre; eventually I shared the idea with Thom, who was intrigued. I wasn’t sure what we would make, but I knew I wanted to make it with Steven and continue experimenting and building on work we have done together over many years.

We’ve found that the play haunts the album, and the album haunts the play. Both reflect the internal disquiet and rage that result from despair—in particular despair arising from scrutiny of dominant power structures—whether within governments, communities, or families. The text and music probe us relentlessly to question what we are made of, and how to discern right from wrong.

Hamlet Hail to the Thief will have its world premiere at Aviva Studios, a warehouse space in Manchester, England, from April 27-May 18. It will then transfer to the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, in Stratford Upon Avon, from June 4 to June 28.

Products You May Like

Articles You May Like

Around 40 Florida Movie Theaters Shutter As Hurricane Helene Nears Landfall
Kate Middleton Makes First Appearance Since Announcing End of Chemo
People’s Choice Country Awards 2024: Complete Winners List
It’s Official: The New HOKA x Reformation Sneakers Are the Best Shoes for Walking
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith and Hot Chip’s Joe Goddard Share Song From New Neptunes EP: Listen

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *