Radiohead thank Hamlet Hail to the Thief audiences after the Stratford run

Hamlet Hail to the Thief closed at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon on 28 June. On 10 July Radiohead put the production's merchandise on sale through W.A.S.T.E., the band's shop and fan club, and a second post that day went to everyone who had seen it in Manchester or Stratford. Thank you to everybody who came and experienced the production. Sign up to W.A.S.T.E. to be first to hear what comes next⁸

Samuel Blenkin told the Stratford Herald on the day of press night that Thom Yorke had seen him sing in the television series Mary & George, at a time when the makers were looking for a Hamlet who could sing. Thom picked up the phone and said, 'What about Sam Blenkin?'⁴

At a workshop, he recalls, with the show's musicians in the room, Yorke played guitar while Blenkin sang “Scatterbrain”. In this production, Blenkin says, Radiohead are the star casting and he is not, and the Manchester run drew plenty of Radiohead fans who had never seen Hamlet or any Shakespeare before.

Press night was Thursday 12 June, eight days into the run. The RSC wished the company luck on Bluesky that day and Radiohead's account reposted it. George Monaghan, reviewing the night for the New Statesman, found the house packed with Radiohead fans, members of the band among them, and a hesitant silence at the end before a huge ovation. He calls the evening sacrilege, and brilliant with it.

In Stratford the evening ran an hour and 40 minutes without an interval, cut from nearly four hours of text. Six musicians played upstage behind glass, and Ed Begley and Megan Hill sang from raised windows. Yorke took the album apart and reorchestrated it, and StageTalk quotes him calling the songs structural parts of the work.

Tony Clarke of StageTalk and Rod Dungate of ReviewsGate gave it five stars. Gary Naylor of The Arts Desk gave four, and thought the players could hardly have been more committed if they had been Radiohead themselves.

the teaser trailer for Hamlet Hail to the Thief· Royal Shakespeare Companywatch on youtube →