Hamlet Hail to the Thief

On June 10th a group of twelve Year 12 English Literature students visited Stratford-upon-Avon to watch a unique new version of Hamlet, one of their main A Level texts.

Here is year 12 student, Srishti J's review of the performance:

Hamlet Hail to the Thief: RSC’s Radical Fusion of Shakespeare and Radiohead

Taking a 425 year old Shakespearean play, which is loved and celebrated around the globe, and fusing it with Radiohead's 2003 alternative Rock album ‘Hail to the Thief’ may seem to be an unexpected choice for many. 

Yet, the play's  co-directors Steven Hogett and Christine Jones  and Radiohead's  frontman Thom Yorke successfully pulled it off. They’ve created a production built on a common theme: anger against power, corruption and lies. The result is a gut wrenching portrayal of Hamlet’s grief: the physical loss of his father and the loss of his relationship with his mother.

Although the The Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford is a relatively large theatre which houses an incredible 1,018, the dimly lit stage created an illusion of an intimate theatre. From the moment you enter, you realise this is by no means a typical production of Hamlet as you are greeted by a haunting design of a dozen black suit  jackets resembling the remnants of  ghosts  suspended above the stage.  This ghostly atmosphere is further heightened by eerie music and plumes of smoke. The tension in the theatre is slowly amplified by the fractured sound of Radiohead’s ‘Hail to the Thief’. The crescendo created by the talented five-piece band floods the theatre in such a way that you forget that you are in a theatre.

Yorke’s  physical theatre sequences, particularly in the celebration of Claudius’s accession to the throne, brought the play to life in a way I had never seen before. The actors synchronised frivolous gestures dancing to ‘Go to Sleep’ dressed in black their eyes covered by black sheer fabric was mesmerising yet uncanny and gave the dance sequence a sense of rigidity  which reflected the unnatural nature of King Claudius’s succession to the throne.  

‘Hamlet Hail to the Thief’s’ depiction of women is by far my favourite thing about this production.No longer are the female characters forced into submission, but are portrayed as three dimensional with power and agency to carve out their own destiny. Ami Tradea’s portrayal of Ophelia is a particular highlight.

The dance sequence between Ophelia and Hamlet at the beginning of the play imagines the couple's passionate and loving relationship before the play was set. Positioning Ophelia’s relationship with Hamlet as not a ‘girl’ deluded by her fantasies of love but as a woman who had a mutually loving relationship with her partner who was  betrayed. However, unlike other productions where Ophelia is positioned as a victim, crumbling under Hamlet’s harsh words, Ophelia is given agency through her visceral reaction to Hamlet’s calls for her to ‘Get thee to a nunnery; slapping his face before exiting this stage. However, the plays most daring choice in the production  was when Ophelia repeats Hamlet’s “To be or not to be” soliloquy before her suicide later singing a heartbreaking rendition of ‘Sail to the Moon’ whilst swaying on a platform, the other characters looking on, helpless. This unforgettable image of Ophelia as not a victim but a woman taking agency was a much needed and celebrated depiction of Ophelia. She finally gains justice in Hamlet ‘Hail to the Thief’ where she is no longer only tied to her relationship with men, in particular Hamlet, but an individual in her own right.