Lolita Chakrabarti's (Life of Pi, Hymn) adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s best-selling novel Hamnet comes to the West End, following an initial run at the Royal Shakespeare Company's Swan Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon. Set in Warwickshire, 1582, the play charts the death of Shakespeare's 11-year-old son Hamnet – an event that eventually led to the Bard writing his famous tragedy Hamlet in his son's memory.
Following the trajectory of the book, much of Chakrabarti's narrative focuses on the relationship between Shakespeare and his wife Agnes Hathaway. The two meet when the playwright was working as a Latin tutor and Hathaway as a natural healer. The giddiness of young love slips away as the play jumps forward a decade to when illness was rife in the family home: Hamnet's twin sister Judith fell ill with the bubonic plague first, recovering just before Hamnet's fatal contagion.
The RSC's acting artistic director Erica Whyman helms the production, which features a set by Tom Piper (The Wind in the Wilton's). Ajani Cabey stars as Hamnet, with Tom Varey playing Shakespeare opposite Madeleine Mantock as Agnes.
| What | Hamnet, Garrick Theatre |
| Where | Garrick Theatre, 2 Charing Cross Road, London, WC2H 0HH | MAP |
| Nearest tube | Leicester Square (underground) |
| When |
30 Sep 23 – 06 Jan 24, 7:30 PM – 10:00 PM |
| Price | £30+ |
| Website | Click here for more information and to book |
