Paapa Essiedu played Hamlet when this production premiered in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon in 2016. He then reprised the role for the 2018 UK tour and in Washington DC.

Play Trailer

Cast for the 2018 tour


Romayne Andrews - Rosencrantz
Lorna Brown - Gertrude
James Cooney - Horatio
Patrick Elue - Fortinbras / Marcellus / Lucianus
Paapa Essiedu - Hamlet
Kevin N Golding - Bernardo / Priest / Player King
Tracy-Anne Green - Player 1 / Francisca / Gravedigger
Maureen Hibbert - Player Queen
Whitney Kehinde - Cornelia / Player 2
Byron Mondahl - Professor of Wittenberg / English Ambassador
Joseph Mydell - Polonius
Mimi Ndiweni - Ophelia
Esther Niles - Osric / Sailor
John Omole - Voltemand
Clarence Smith - Claudius
Buom Tihngang - Laertes
Ewart James Walters - Ghost / Gravedigger
Eleanor Wyld - Guildenstern


Creatives


Director - Simon Godwin
Designer - Paul Wills
Lighting - Paul Anderson
Music - Sola Akingbola
Music Associate - Jon Nicholls
Sound - Christopher Shutt
Movement - Mbulelo Ndabeni
Fights - Kev McCurdy


2018 Tour venues


The play was performed at:

  • The Lowry, Salford
  • Theatre Royal Plymouth
  • Hull New Theatre
  • Northern Stage, Newcastle Upon Tyne
  • Royal & Derngate, Northampton
  • Hackney Empire, London
  • Kennedy Centre, Washington DC

Tour Reviews

 

★★★★★Broadway World

'Shakespeare's most familiar tragedy comes alive with bold strokes of colour in a vibrant and breath-taking shape'

★★★★★Manchester Theatre Awards

'What a find Paapa Essiedu has been. He gives us a genuine sense of discontented youth…creative and razor-sharp'

★★★★★Manchester Evening News

‘Fantastic, dark belly laughs at unexpected points’

★★★★★Newcastle Chronicle

‘One of the best Hamlets you're ever likely to see’

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