"This is an interesting and intimidating challenge ...!", Thom Yorke of Radiohead wrote today about an ambitious project: taking the 2003 album Hail to the Thief and adapting it for a new production of Hamlet. The project is called Hamlet Hail to the Thief, featuring William Shakespeare’s iconic text along with the songs of Hail to the Thief, which Yorke has orchestrated and "remolded" for 20 musicians and actors. Per the press release from the band, "Thom has worked with designer & director Christine Jones and director & choreographer Steven Hoggett to create a new adaptation of Shakespeare's Hamlet. The songs from Hail To The Thief have been deconstructed and remoulded into a score to serve the play, to be performed by live musicians and cast members. The world premiere takes place at Aviva Studios, Manchester, home of Factory International from 27th April - 18th May 2025, before moving to the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon from 4th - 28th June 2025." The track, "There, There," will play well with a little "To be or not to be" in our opinion.
"this is an interesting and intimidating challenge .. !
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."
- Thom
