Thom Yorke is orchestrating a reworked version of Radiohead‘s Hail to the Thief album to accompany a new theatrical production of Shakespeare‘s Hamlet.
Hamlet Hail to the Thief is described as a “feverish new live experience, fusing theatre, music and movement,” in which “Shakespeare’s words and Radiohead’s album illuminate one another in thrilling new ways as the music becomes a critical part of the narrative.”
“This is an interesting and intimidating challenge!” Yorke says. “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.”
Hamlet Hail to the Thief will premiere April 27 at Aviva Studios in Manchester, England, and will run into mid-May before transferring to the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in June.
Tickets go on sale Oct. 2.
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