Radiohead meets Shakespeare as Hamlet Hail To The Thief heads to London's Barbican

11 June 2026, 14:22

Hamlet Hail To The Thief artwork. Picture: Press

By Jenny Mensah

Thom Yorke, Christine Jones and Steven Hoggett's collaboration for the Shakespeare play will get its London premiere at the Barbican Theatre this Autumn.

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Hamlet Hail to the Thief is set to make its London premiere this Autumn.

Thom Yorke's collaboration with Christine Jones and Steven Hoggett - which sees the words of the famous Shakespeare play illuminated and reworked by Radiohead's celebrated 2003 album - was initially launched in Manchester last year, to critical acclaim.

Now, the collaboration is set to come to the capital at the Barbican Theatre from 31st October 2026 - 23rd January 2027.

Subscribers to Radiohead's W.A.S.T.E mailing list will automatically gain pre-sale access from Thursday 25th June at 10am BST.

Tickets for the Barbican Theatre go on sale to the public at 10am on Friday 26 June at www.hamlethailtothethief.com

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Thom Yorke said of the announcement: "I’m into finally bringing ‘Hamlet Hail to the Thief’ to London, and to the Barbican of all places! It is fascinating and very strange to me how this came to life and how it has worked.

"When it revealed itself to us over time I was shocked, having never had this kind of experience before. I am happy for it to be seen by a wider audience in such an intense space."

Christine Jones said: “Bringing this brutal play into the Barbican's brutalist space seems fated. I feel fiercely fortunate to regroup with these incisive collaborators and push our work further. Both the play and the album continue to speak urgently to the convulsed world we find ourselves in. For me, working on this project is one way to find the ground beneath me.”

Steven Hoggett said: “The chance to put all the learnings into the next stages of a show is a great privilege. What were guesstimates and hopes become areas we can now push into, knowing we can create more precision. The fact that this is the process that will find its home on stage at the Barbican is truly thrilling. The show will become richer in its elision of music, movement and text which makes this space a perfect home. I myself have sat in the auditorium on many, many occasions and had the boundaries blown apart as to what theatre might be. We’re following some giants but also many of my personal inspirations. In this way we hope to continue this dazzling tradition - a commitment to theatre that looks to meet the expectations of a multi-generational audience with an intention to be as radical as we are reverential.”

Thom Yorke, Christine Jones and Steven Hoggett. Picture: Greg Williams/Pilot Roberts/Press

As explained in a press release, Samuel Blenkin will reprise his role as Hamlet alongside Ami Tredrea as Ophelia.

The returning cast also includes Alby Baldwin (The Unbelievers, Royal Court; Tender, Bush Theatre) as Horatio, Brandon Grace (Summerfolk and London Tide, National Theatre) as Laertes, Felipe Pacheco (The Hunger Games, Troubadour Theatre; Metamorphosis, Frantic Assembly) as Guildenstern, Romaya Weaver (A Midsummer Night's Dream, Globe Theatre; The Cabinet Minister, Menier Chocolate Factory) as Barnarda/ Player Queen, and Marienella Phillips (Love's Labour's Lost, RSC; A Christmas Carol, The Lowry) as Offstage Swing. Further casting to be announced.

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The news comes after Ed O'Brien cast doubt over a Radiohead album being released any time soon.

It's been a decade since the band's last studio effort, A Moon Shaped Pool, which was released on 8th May 2016, but quizzed by NME if the band have any update on its successor, he laughed: “Where did you get this idea that there’s another Radiohead record?"

Though he knows why fans are excited to hear about new material from the band, O'Brien admitted they aren't in any rush because their ninth outing was "f***ing awful to make".

“I know it’s so funny and it comes from a good place." added the Burn The Witch guitarist. "People want to hear another Radiohead record. I can’t even imagine it because we’ve not even talked about another record. I think that’s because the last record was so fucking awful to make! The tale of that record is so fucking dark. It casts a long shadow. Maybe ask me in six years time!”