Full cast and band announced for 'Hamlet Hail to the Thief' at the Barbican

Hamlet Hail to the Thief is illuminated by Radiohead’s celebrated album, re-worked by Thom Yorke and performed live by a cast of musicians and actors.

The full cast has been revealed for Hamlet Hail to the Thief, which begins performances at the Barbican in London on 31 October, running through 23 January 2027.

The previously announced cast includes Samuel Blenkin (Alien: Earth), who reprises his role as Hamlet, alongside Ami Tredrea (The Shitheads) as Ophelia, Paul Hilton (Mass) as Claudius/ Ghost, Claudia Harrison (The Line of Beauty) as Gertrude, Alby Baldwin (The Unbelievers) as Horatio, Brandon Grace (Summerfolk) as Laertes, Felipe Pacheco (The Hunger Games) as Guildenstern, Romaya Weaver (A Midsummer Night's Dream) as Barnarda/ Player Queen / understudy Ophelia, and Marienella Phillips (Love's Labour's Lost) as understudy Rosencrantz, Barnarda/ Player Queen and Gravedigger.

Completing the cast will be Nicolas Tennant (Mother Courage and Her Children) as Polonius, Merryl Ansah (The Lion King) as Gravedigger/ understudy Gertrude, Miles Barrow (Game of Thrones) as Rosencrantz/ understudy Hamlet, Halim Diwani making his professional stage debut as understudy Laertes, Horatio, and Guildenstern, and Gavin James (Rosie) as understudy Claudius and Polonius.

The full original band from the world premiere at Aviva Studios last year will return to the production including Ed Begley (Vocals), Tom Brady (Music Supervisor, Music Director and Keys 2), Jenny Clifford (Guitars), Joe Downard (Bass Guitar), Shane Forbes (Drums), Meg Hill (Vocals), Tom Knowles (Associate Music Supervisor and Keys 1) and Adam Martin (Guitars). They will be joined by cover singers Emilio Moreno Arias and Josephina Ortiz Lewis.

Thom Yorke, Christine Jones and Steven Hoggett have developed a fast-paced distillation of Shakespeare's great tragedy, in which Hamlet and Ophelia wake up to the lies and corruption infecting their war-like state. The work is illuminated by Radiohead’s celebrated album Hail to the Thief, re-worked by Yorke and performed live by a cast of musicians and actors.

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Photo credit: Hamlet Hail to the Thief artwork. (Courtesy of production)