Yorke to rework classic Radiohead album for Hamlet production

Thom Yorke is to rework Radiohead's album Hail to the Thief for a new stage production of Hamlet, opening next spring in Manchester.

- Chris Wiegand

Yorke said that the concept for the show presented him with "an interesting and intimidating challenge" to see how the music "collides with the action and the text" of Shakespeare's tragedy. He added that the endeavour would uncover how much of his band's album, which features the tracks There There and Go to Sleep, "chimes with the underlying grief and paranoia" of the play.

Performed by a cast of musicians and actors, Hamlet Hail to the Thief will run at Aviva Studios, Manchester, from 27 April-18 May. It will then be staged at the Royal Shakespeare theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, from 4-28 June.

Christine Jones, who will co-direct the production with Steven Hoggett, said Radiohead's Hail to the Thief tour "changed my DNA" and that many of their songs "speak to the themes of the play". Her long-held dream of combining the two works intrigued Yorke. "We've found that the play haunts the album, and the album haunts the play," said Jones.