Radiohead’s ‘Hamlet Hail to the Thief’ Heads to London’s Barbican With ‘Alien: Earth’ Star Samuel Blenkin

Shakespeare‘s most famous tragedy will collide with Radiohead‘s 2003 album “Hail to the Thief” when “Hamlet Hail to the Thief” opens at London’s Barbican Theatre on Oct. 31, running through Jan. 23, 2027.

The production marks the London premiere of the show, which played to sold-out houses at the Royal Shakespeare Company and Aviva Studios, home of Factory International, last year.

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Samuel Blenkin – known for “Alien: Earth” on FX and Bong Joon-ho’s “Mickey 17” – reprises the title role. Ami Tredrea returns as Ophelia, with Paul Hilton as Claudius and the Ghost, Claudia Harrison as Gertrude, Alby Baldwin as Horatio, Brandon Grace as Laertes, Felipe Pacheco as Guildenstern, Romaya Weaver as Barnarda and Player Queen, and Marienella Phillips as Offstage Swing. Further casting is to be announced.

The production is co-created and co-directed by choreographer Steven Hoggett and theater artist Christine Jones, with Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke reworking the album’s material. The songs are performed live onstage by a company of musicians and actors, with Shakespeare’s text and Radiohead’s music set in dialogue throughout.

“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,” Yorke said.

Jones added: “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.”

The production is presented by ATC Music Group, Vivek J. Tiwary for TEG+, and Nate Koch.

“Hail to the Thief,” recorded in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks and the subsequent War on Terror, draws on dystopian themes including Orwell-inspired lyrics and Brothers Grimm-style imagery. Radiohead returned to the stage last year after a seven-year hiatus for a series of sold-out arena residencies across Europe.