Thom Yorke has shed light on how the Hamlet Hail To The Thief production connects to Radiohead‘s ‘Hail To The Thief’.
The show is based on Radiohead‘s 2003 record, with Yorke joining forces with Tony and Olivier Award-winning directors Steven Hoggett and Christine Jones to create a contemporary adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
Ahead of opening night, they sat down with The Observer to discuss their collaboration, with Yorke revealing that despite apparent synchronicities the album and the Shakespearian tragedy share, “Hamlet was not in our minds when we made the record.”
“I don’t not subscribe to the synchronicity thing,” he added. “You know, the one about The Wizard of Oz and ‘Dark Side of the Moon’; you watch a movie, turn the sound down, put on another soundtrack and something is revealed. But, obviously, my initial reaction was, this is Hamlet, therefore it’s sacrosanct, it’s untouchable. You can’t. But the idea didn’t go away. It planted a little seed in my head.”
Yorke personally reworked and orchestrated the record for the production, with the project described as a “feverish new live experience, fusing theatre, music and movement”. Earlier this month, NME got an exclusive look at behind-the-scenes photos from the show, which you can check out here.
Jones had noticed 20 years earlier that the record seemed to echo some of the play’s dialogue at times, explaining that both “start with a question”. Yorke went on to say their approach to combining the two made it feel “holy”, adding that it was good to revisit ‘Hail To The Thief‘ because he felt there was “unfinished business” there.
“I can’t really explain it, it just all turned to shit,” he explained. “Finishing it, mixing it, was really hard and not fun at all. So this has been a healthy process for me especially, but for the others as well, it’s been a way of claiming back what the original sentiment was. This whole thing was more open than just that one idea of ‘Hail To The Thief’.”
Having hosted its world premiere at Aviva Studios in Manchester yesterday (April 27), the production is now set to run through May 18 before moving over to the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford, where it will run from June 4 until June 28.
Visit factoryinternational.org and rsc.org.uk for tickets to Hamlet Hail To The Thief.
Elsewhere, rumours of a Radiohead tour have continued to swirl after the band formed a new legal entity, suggesting they may be planning significant activity in 2025.
But a spokesperson for Radiohead has since confirmed that Blueyed Pictures does not manage the band and has no affiliation with them. The original Radiohead listing was also removed and replaced by a generic offer of “four premier concert tickets” instead.
As for work on a new album, bassist Colin Greenwood caught up with NME around the release of his new photo book How To Disappear, and opened up about the band’s reunion rehearsals last summer – describing them as “really good fun”. Guitarist Jonny Greenwood also told us that the sessions were “fun and natural“.
Elsewhere, last month, Yorke and Mark Pritchard announced their first full-length album together. ‘Tall Tales’ will be released on May 9 via Warp, which will include the singles ‘This Conversation Is Missing Your Voice’ and ‘Back In The Game’.
They also recently announced plans for a special global screening event a day ahead of the LP’s official release. You can purchase tickets here.
