FULL CASTING ANNOUNCED FOR THE US STAGE PREMIERE OF HAMNET
STAGE PREMIERE PRODUCTION OF HAMNET TO EMBARK ON FIRST EVER US TOUR OPENING AT THE CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE THEATER FROM 10 FEBRUARY 2026.
BASED ON THE BEST-SELLING NOVEL BY MAGGIE O’FARRELL, WINNER OF THE WOMEN’S PRIZE FOR FICTION, 2020.
ADAPTED BY AWARD-WINNING PLAYWRIGHT LOLITA CHAKRABARTI AND DIRECTED BY ERICA WHYMAN (FORMER ACTING ARTISTIC DIRECTOR OF THE RSC).
The critically-acclaimed production will visit The Yard, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Chicago, Illinois, from 10 February to 8 March 2026 before transferring to the Shakespeare Theatre Company, Washington, DC, from 17 March to 12 April 2026 and the Toni Rembe Theatre, American Conservatory Theater, San Francisco, from 22 April to 24 May 2026.
Based on the best-selling novel by Maggie O'Farrell, adapted by award-winning playwright Lolita Chakrabarti (Life of Pi, Red Velvet, Hymn), Hamnet 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. Hamnet is a love letter to passion, birth, grief, and the magic of nature.
The original RSC/Neal Street stage production of Hamnet played to sell-out audiences in Stratford-upon-Avon in 2023, breaking box office records at the Swan Theatre. It later opened to the biggest box office advance in the Garrick Theatre’s history when it transferred to the West End in the Autumn.
“Pure theatre gold” Mail on Sunday (UK)
“Elegant and beguiling” Evening Standard (UK)
Kemi-Bo Jacobs plays Agnes. Kemi-Bo’s recent stage credits include Coriolanus (National Theatre), The Other Boleyn Girl (Chichester), Ocean at the End of the Lane (West End and National Theatre Tour), All My Sons (Manchester Royal Exchange and UK Tour), Wild East (Young Vic), The Winter’s Tale (RSC) and The Sweet Science of Bruising (Southwark Playhouse). Her screen credits include Million Days, The Letter for The King (Netflix), The Great (Hulu), McMafia, Thirteen, Delicious, London Has Fallen, The Honorable Woman, Lewis and Doctor Who.
Rory Alexander plays William. Rory can currently be seen starring as a young Murtagh Fitzgibbons Fraser in the Outlander prequel Blood of My Blood for Starz. Rory was longlisted for a BIFA for Best Breakthrough Performance for his leading role in Inland opposite Mark Rylance and Kathryn Hunter. He has recently completed filming on Justin Chadwick’s latest feature Untamed with Emily Barber and Matthew Steer. Rory can also be seen playing the role of Boogie in Danny Boyle’s Pistol alongside Louis Partridge, Thomas Brodie-Sangster and Maisie Williams for FX/Hulu (US) and Disney+(UK). Other notable film and television credits include Element Film’s Dark Windows, Dark Game with Ed Westwick, Kenny Swinney in Sky’s Then You Run with Leah McNamara, Eric in Amazon’s Alex Rider S2 with Vicky McClure, and Netflix’s Anxious People.
Director Erica Whyman said: “I am delighted to be revisiting this extraordinary story for US audiences, and to be making this production with a stellar line-up of performers. Kemi-Bo Jacobs and Rory Alexander are bringing Agnes and William alive on the stage with a luminous intelligence and a profound and shocking understanding of the love and loss that shaped their lives. They are joined by a wonderful company bringing a wealth of experience and spirited invention to Lolita's searing adaptation.
The play explores Agnes's remarkable spiritual gifts and her relationship with both the natural world and the future with an imaginative theatricality, and audiences should expect beautiful music, movement and sound design on Tom Piper's stunning set. This is, at its heart, an intimate story of family which finds eternal expression on the stage - to see it in the theatre is to bear witness to the astonishing resilience of the human spirit.”
Completing the cast are Troy Alexander (Bartholomew), Nigel Barrett (John/ Will Kempe), Haydn Burke (Understudy Bartholomew, Hamnet/Thomas Day & Henry Condell), Ajani Cabey (Hamnet/Thomas Day), Saffron Dey (Judith), Victoria Elliott (Joan & Elizabeth Condell), Heather Forster (Eliza), Thalia Gambe (Understudy Susanna, Judith & Tilly), Karl Haynes (Ned/Henry Condell & Physician), Ava Hinds Jones (Susanna), Nicki Hobday (Jude & Physician’s Wife), Penny Layden (Mary), Matilda McCarthy (Tilly/Caterina & Will’s Landlady) and Bert Seymour (Burbage/Father John). Visit the RSC website for further information and full biogs.
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 Simon Baker, Music by Oğuz Kaplangi, Casting by Amy Ball CDG and Movement by Ayşe Tashkiran.
ENDS
For further information please contact Kate Evans (Head of Media Relations, Royal Shakespeare Company) at kate.evans@rsc.org.uk
LISTINGS
HAMNET
Novel by Maggie O’Farrell
Adapted by Lola Chakrabarti
Directed by Erica Whyman
The Yard, Chicago Shakespeare Theater
Chicago
Illinois
10 February to 8 March 2026
Shakespeare Theatre Company
Washington, DC
17 March to 12 April 2026
Toni Rembe Theatre, American Conservatory Theater
San Francisco
22 April to 24 May 2026
