Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) and Neal Street Productions in association with Hera Pictures have announced casting for the West End transfer of Hamnet, directed by Erica Whyman and adapted by Lolita Chakrabarti (Life of Pi). The production had a sell-out run at the RSC, breaking box office records at the Swan Theatre and will open to the biggest box office advance in the Garrick Theatre’s history.
Reprising their roles from the RSC’s Stratford-upon-Avon run are Sarah Belcher (Joan), Will Brown (Burbage/Father John), Ajani Cabey (Hamnet), Frankie Hastings (Eliza/Customer), Karl Haynes (Ned), Alex Jarrett (Judith), Madeleine Mantock (Agnes Hathaway), Hannah McPake (Jude), Tom Varey (William Shakespeare) and Peter Wight (John/Will Kempe). Further casting is still to be announced.
Hamnet – The Plot
Agnes Hathaway, a natural healer, meets the Latin tutor, William Shakespeare. Drawn together by powerful but hidden impulses, they create a life together and make a family.
As William moves to London to discover his place in the world of theatre, Agnes stays at home to raise their three children but she is the constant presence and purpose of his life.
When the plague steals 11-year-old Hamnet from his loving parents, they must each confront their loss alone. And yet, out of the greatest suffering, something of extraordinary wonder is born.
Production
The production will feature Set and Costume Design by Tom Piper, Lighting by Prema Mehta, Sound Design by Simon Baker, Music by Oğuz Kaplangi, Casting by Amy Ball CDG, Movement by Ayse Tashkiran and Fights by Kate Waters.
Earlier this week, the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) also announced the return of its in-house podcast, Interval Drinks, with the first episode featuring Maggie O’Farrell, interviewed by Erica Whyman. They discuss Hamnet, the novel and the process of putting it on stage, as well as Hamlet and autobiography in fiction, including the part Shakespeare’s son, Hamnet, plays in his work. Each episode of the series is available to download for free via the RSC website, as well as multiple podcast platforms, including Spotify and Apple Podcasts (formerly iTunes).
Hamnet has sold over 1.5 million copies worldwide and was named both Waterstones Book of the Year and winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award in 2020. The novel also saw Maggie O’Farrell named the winner of the 2020 Women’s Prize for Fiction; the UK’s most prestigious annual book award celebrating and honouring fiction written by women. As the No. 1 Sunday Times Bestseller in 2021, Hamnet was shortlisted for the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction (2021) and British Book awards ‘Fiction Book of the Year’ (2021).
The production runs from 30 September 2023 to 6 January 2024 with press night on 18 October.
Biographies
The production is adapted for the stage by award-winning playwright Lolita Chakrabarti, whose writing credits include Red Velvet, Invisible Cities, Hymn, The Goddess and the award-winning stage adaptation of Yann Martel’s Booker Prize winning novel Life of Pi (winner of five Olivier awards including Best New Play, 2022) which transfers to Broadway’s Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre from the American Repertory Theatre in Boston in March 2023. She was also dramaturg on Message in a Bottle, curated The Greatest Wealth at The Old Vic, for which she wrote a monologue and is dramaturg on new musical Sylvia at The Old Vic.
Hamnet is directed by Erica Whyman. Hamnet marks Erica’s twelfth production for the RSC, having first joined the RSC in January 2013 as Deputy Artistic Director.
Madeleine Mantock (Agnes Hathaway) made her West End stage debut in 2021 playing Elvira in Blithe Spirit at the Harold Pinter Theatre. For TV, Madeleine recently played Macy Vaughn in CBS studios series Charmed and Miss Clara in the BBC’s The Long Song. Other TV credits include The Tomorrow People (Warner Brothers), Age Before Beauty (BBC) and Into the Badlands (AMC). Madeleine’s film credits include Breaking Brooklyn (Montage Films), The Truth Commissioner (BBC Films) and Edge of Tomorrow (Warner Brothers).
Tom Varey’s (William Shakespeare) previous theatre credits include Death Watch (The Print Room), One Arm (Southwark Playhouse), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Liverpool Everyman) and A Taste of Honey (Trafalgar Studios). For TV, Tom played Bert Middleton in the ITV drama serial The Village and Will Simpson in the long-running soap Ackley Bridge. He went on to play Cley Cerwyn in the HBO drama Game of Thrones. More recently, Tom played Jack Morris in the four-part BBC One drama Ridley Road. Other TV and film credits include Fifteen Love, Death in Paradise, No Offence and Dark Angel.
Sarah Belcher’s (Joan) extensive stage credits include What Country Friends is This (RSC), The March on Russia (Orange Tree), Medea (Almeida), The Accrington Pals (Royal Exchange), Six Characters in Search Of An Author (Headlong), Beachy Head (Analogue), Roam (National Theatre of Scotland/Grid Iron), The Devil’s Larder (Grid Iron), The Elephant Man (Sheffield Lyceum) and The Magic Carpet (Lyric Hammersmith). TV credits include Holby City, Kiss of Death, EastEnders, Obsession, The Musketeers, Doctors, Tales from the Old Bailey, Lead Balloon, Twelve Dancing Princesses and Talk to Me.
Will Brown’s (Burbage/Father John) theatre credits include The Duchess of Malfi, The Fantastic Follies of Mrs Rich (RSC), The False Servant (Orange Tree), Inheritance Blues (Hightide Festival, Soho Theatre, Sheffield Crucible and West Yorkshire Playhouse), The Merry Wives of Windsor (Redgrave Theatre), The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe (Redgrave Theatre), Fade (DugOut Theatre) and The Journey (Pleasance Theatre). Will’s TV credits include The Outlaws, Disability Benefits, The B@IT, The Nevers, Midsomer Murders, Unforgotten, Call the Midwife, Doctor Who and Spotless.
Ajani Cabey (Hamnet) trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre school, having graduated in 2019. Whilst training, Ajani’s theatre credits include Absolute Scenes, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, Romeo and Juliet, Loam and Jumpers for Goalposts. Since then, Ajani has enjoyed roles in William Stone’s comedy-drama The Fence set in 1980s Bristol and the BFI-supported short film Pickney by Michael Jenkins. This production will mark Ajani’s professional stage debut and his debut season with the RSC.
Frankie Hastings (Eliza/Customer) is a graduate of RADA, Frankie’s screen credits include roles in Call the Midwife (ITV) and the Oscar award-winning film Belfast.
Alex Jarrett’s (Judith) previous theatre credits include Our Generation (National Theatre), Maryland (Theatre Royal Stratford East), We Anchor in Hope (The Bunker) and Aisha (Old Red Lion). For TV, Alex’s recent credits include the BAFTA-nominated Channel 4 mini-series Adult Material, BBC 2 historical sit-com The Witchfinder and the 2018-19 BBC mini-series of Les Misérables.
Hannah McPake (Jude) has performed for the Sherman Cymru, Told by an Idiot, Improbable, Spymonkey, Shakespeare’s Globe, National Theatre of Scotland, National Theatre Wales and China Plate. Her most recent theatre credits include Romeo & Juliet, The Knight of the Burning Pestle (Shakespeare’s Globe), I Am Kevin (Wildworks), Tales of the Brothers Grimm, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, A Christmas Carol, Alice in Wonderland, The Wind in the Willows, Maudie’s Rooms, Cinders, Plum (And Me, Will) (Sherman Theatre), The Shape of the Pain (China Plate) and I Am Thomas (Told By An Idiot/National Theatre Scotland/Lyceum Theatre). TV and film credits include Casualty, Skins Series V and Trollied.
Hannah is the co-founder of multi-award-winning company Gagglebabble, An Associate Artist of Theatr Iolo and a current recipient of NTW Radical Creatures Commission.
Peter Wight’s (John/Will Kempe) previous theatre credits include The Spanish Tragedy, Much Ado About Nothing, Barbarians, A Clockwork Orange, Hamlet (RSC). Peter has enjoyed residencies at theatres including the National Theatre, Harold Pinter Theatre, Royal Court, Duke of York’s Theatre, the Lyric Hammersmith, Sheffield Crucible and the New York Armory. Recent stage credits include Hamlet, Oresteia (Park Avenue Armory Theatre), Uncle Vanya and The Birthday Party (Harold Pinter Theatre) and Rosmersholm (Duke of York’s). As a screen actor, Peter is perhaps best known for his collaboration with Mike Leigh on Meantime, Naked, Vera Drake, Another Year and Mr Turner. For TV, Peter enjoyed long-running roles in the BBC sitcom Early Doors and police drama Out of the Blue. More recently, Peter has appeared in A Confession (ITV), This Time with Alan Partridge (BBC1), Vanity Fair (ITV/Amazon), The Crown (Netflix), Brief Encounters, I Want My Wife Back and Our Zoo.
Karl Haynes plays Ned, and Haydn Burke and Faye Campbell play off-stage understudies.
Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC)
The Royal Shakespeare Company creates world class theatre, made in Stratford-upon-Avon and shared around the world, performing plays by Shakespeare and his contemporaries, as well as commissioning an exceptionally wide range of original work from contemporary writers. Our purpose is to ensure that Shakespeare is for everyone, and we do that by unlocking the power of his plays and of live performance, throughout the UK and across the world.
Garrick Theatre, 2 Charing Cross Road, London WC2H 0HH
Saturday 30 September 2023 – Saturday 6 January 2024
Box office: 0330 333 4815
nimaxtheatres.com/shows/hamnet/
Performance Times
Monday – Saturday, 7.30pm
Thursday & Saturday, 2.30pm
Tickets from £25
