Photos: World Stage Premiere Of HAMNET Opens In The Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon

Last night (Wednesday 12 April), the Royal Shakespeare Company and Neal Street Productions, in association with Hera Pictures, welcomed special guests to the world stage premiere of Hamnet, which opened its sold-out run in the newly restored Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon. See photos from inside opening night!

Ahead of the premiere, award-winning novelist Maggie O'Farrell joined playwright Lolita Chakrabarti and Director Erica Whyman for photos in the Swan Theatre, which re-opened its doors to the public for the first time in three years this April following a period of refurbishment, having originally closed due to the pandemic in March 2020.

Other guests in attendance that evening included Niamh Cusack, Rupert Evans, Ray Fearon, Emma Fielding, Anton Lesser, Ben Miles, Sally Phillips, Hugh Quarshie, Rhashan Stone and Olivia Williams.

This new play based on the best-selling novel by Maggie O'Farrell, adapted by award-winning playwright Lolita Chakrabarti (Life of Pi, Red Velvet, Hymn), pulls back a curtain on the story of the greatest writer in the English language and the woman who was the constant presence and purpose of his life.

The stage production of Hamnet will transfer direct to London's Garrick Theatre this autumn after selling out ahead of its world premiere at the newly restored Swan Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon this April.

The production will run for a limited 14-week season from Saturday 30 September 2023 - Saturday 6 January 2024 with a press performance on Thursday 12 October 2023.

The RSC has worked in partnership with Neal Street Productions, one of the UK's most respected production companies, producing film, television and theatre. The novel was first optioned by Hera Pictures who together with Neal Street secured the rights to bring Maggie `O'Farrell's celebrated novel to the stage.

The production features Madeleine Mantock as Agnes Hathaway, in her RSC debut. Madeleine made her West End stage debut in 2021 playing Elvira in Richard Eyre's production of 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 plays William Shakespeare, also making his RSC debut whilst Peter Wight returns to the RSC for the first time since 1997 to play John/Will Kempe.

The company also includes: Sarah Belcher (Joan), Will Brown (Burbage/Father John), Haydn Burke (Off-stage Understudy), Ajani Cabey (Hamnet/Thomas Day) Faye Campbell (Off-stage Understudy), Frankie Hastings (Eliza), Karl Haynes (Ned), Alex Jarrett (Judith), Hannah McPake (Jude), Rose Riley (Tilly/Caterina), Elizabeth Rider (Mary), Harmony Rose-Bremner (Susanna) and Obioma Ugoala (Bartholomew).

Full casting for the London run at the Garrick Theatre is to be confirmed.

Warwickshire,1582. 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.

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.

Hamnet has sold over a 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 will feature Set and Costume Design by Tom Piper, Lighting by Prema Mehta, Sound by Xana, Music by Oğuz Kaplangi, Casting by Amy Ball CDG and Movement by Ayse Tashkiran.

Photo Credit: Joe Bailey

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