The Royal Shakespeare Company has extended by six weeks the West End transfer of Lolita Chakrabarti’s adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s Hamnet which will now run until February 2024.
Hamnet had a sell-out run in Stratford, breaking box-office records at the RSC’s Swan Theatre, and will open to the biggest advance of any production at the Garrick Theatre.
Joining the company are Gabriel Akuwudike (Bartholomew), Phoebe Campbell (Susanna), Mhairi Gayer (Tilly / Caterina / landlady) and Liza Sadovy (Mary).
Reprising their Stratford roles 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). Haydn Burke and Faye Campbell complete the cast as off-stage understudies.
Erica Whyman directs. Set and costume design are by Tom Piper, lighting by Prema Mehta, music by Oğuz Kaplangi, sound design by Simon Baker, movement by Ayse Tashkiran, dramaturgy by Pippa Hill, fights by Kate Waters and casting by Amy Ball CDG.
Previews of Hamnet begin on Saturday 30 September, with press night on Wednesday 18 October and booking until Saturday 17 February 2024.