Full Cast Announced for US Stage Premiere of Hamnet

Full casting has been announced for the US tour of Hamnet—a co-production from the Royal Shakespeare Company and Neal Street Productions.

The production will have engagements at Chicago Shakespeare Theater in Chicago (February 10-March 8), Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, DC (March 17-April 12), and American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco (April 22-May 24).

Based on the best-selling novel by Maggie O’Farrell, the stage production of Hamnet is adapted by playwright Lolita Chakrabarti and directed by Erica Whyman.

The cast features Kemi-Bo Jacobs as Agnes and Rory Alexander as William.

Reprising their roles from the Royal Shakespeare Company production, which ran in Stratford-Upon-Avon and at the Garrick Theatre in the West End, are Ajani Cabey as Hamnet, Karl Haynes as Ned, and Haydn Burke in the ensemble.

Completing the cast are Troy Alexander as Bartholomew, Nigel Barrett as John/ Will Kempe, Saffron Dey as Judith, Victoria Elliott as Joan and Elizabeth Condell, Heather Forster as Eliza, Thalia Gambe as the understudy for Susanna, Judith, and Tilly, Ava Hinds Jones as Susanna, Nicki Hobday as Jude and Physician’s Wife, Penny Layden as Mary, Matilda McCarthy as Tilly/Caterina and Will’s Landlady, and Bert Seymour as Burbage/Father John.

The creative team includes set and costume designer Tom Piper, lighting designer Prema Mehta, sound designer Simon Baker, music composer Oğuz Kaplangi, and movement director Ayşe Tashkiran.

In Hamnet, Agnes Hathaway, a natural healer, and Latin tutor, William Shakespeare, create a life together and make a family. When their son, 11-year-old Hamnet, dies from the plague, they must each confront their loss alone.