“Hamnet” is a Shakespeare play, but not in the way we’d expect. The play centres on the character of Agnes Shakespeare – or Agnes Hathaway, as she is known when we first meet her – portrayed by Madeleine Mantock. There is no denying that Agnes is the focus of this play. This is telling her story, from the days of her courting William (Tom Varey), to the birth of their children and the subsequent death of their son.
In case you haven’t already guessed it, “Hamnet” tells the “true” story of the family of the famous playwright – although very little is actually known for definite about their relationship, so a lot of it is conjecture. The play, adapted for stage by Lolita Chakrabarti, is based on the novel by Maggie O’Farrell, and whilst there are plenty of references to Shakespeare’s plays (at one point, William describes a London stage as containing the entire world, referencing his famous line from “As You Like It”), the main thrust of the story focuses on their family life.
We first join Agnes as she and her brother Bartholomew (Obioma Ugoala) are struggling to get along with their stepmother Joan (Sarah Belcher) in the wake of their father’s death. From there, Agnes meets William and they begin courting, with Agnes soon finding that she is pregnant. The reaction from William’s mother and father (Elizabeth Rider and Peter Wight as Mary and John respectively) is as one may expect – there are no real surprises or shocks in this story, but that doesn’t detract from the emotional nature of the piece.
The story moves along quickly (the play covers 18 years in total), and we see the birth of the Shakespeare’s first child (the delightfully deadpan Harmony Rose-Bremner as Susanna) and soon after their twin children, Hamnet (Ajani Cabey in the title role) and Judith (Alex Jarrett). Whilst the play is named after Hamnet, he is in no way the “main character” – he is never singled out as the favourite child, or even particularly special, beyond the fact that he is their only son. Instead, Agnes and William appear to love and care for each child on an equal level, which is pleasing to see. It helps you buy into the family as real, and I particularly enjoyed the relationship between Hamnet and Judith (Judith is a sickly child and unable to venture out much, and Hamnet does his best to care for her).
It’s not a spoiler to say that Hamnet succumbs to the plague. The moment is foreshadowed from the first seconds of the play, and the entire show is built around the fact that the audience know what is to happen. The young boy’s death is shocking and traumatic – all the actors come into their own in this scene, but Mantock is the one that you find your eyes drawn to, her screams living long in the memory afterwards.
The final act of play feels like an epilogue, with Agnes travelling to London to see Shakespeare’s production of “Hamlet”, which is, apparently, based on his son. This felt like a little bit of a reach to me (besides the name, it was difficult to draw many comparisons between the two characters, but the play does its best). Other references to “Comedy of Errors” (it’s about twins, and his children were twins, and so there must be a connection) also felt a bit too much of a leap. Although I suppose it’s all down to interpretation in the end, as we’ll never be truly sure of his motivations and inspirations, so I can appreciate the efforts that the play makes to draw these comparisons.
The production, overall, was superb. The set, with the stage being built up to recreate the Globe theatre in the final act, whilst simple, really helped to bring Shakespeare’s world to life, and it was great to be back in The Swan Theatre for the first time since lockdown. Music helped to move things along quickly, with smooth transitions helping take the audience through events that were occurring across the years. One of my favourite transitions involved Agnes being wrapped in a shawl, that was folded to create a pregnant belly (I’m probably not doing it justice with that description, but it was very effective).
I cannot recommend this play enough. I really hope as many people as possible get to see it (the website says SOLD OUT for the majority of Stratford shows, but there were still a few empty seats last night, disappointingly). One of the finest RSC productions I have ever seen.
“Hamnet” plays in the Swan Theatre in Stratford-Upon-Avon until June, and transfers to London Garrick Theatre from September.
Tom Morley, April 2023
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