Hamnet 

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. Experience the US premiere of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s stage adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s best-selling novel, adapted by award-winning playwright Lolita Chakrabarti (Hymn, Life of Pi, Red Velvet), and directed by Erica Whyman. Pulling 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.

RSC co-Artistic Directors Daniel Evans and Tamara Harvey shared, “We are delighted to be returning to Chicago Shakespeare Theater where we were welcomed so warmly when we brought Shakespeare’s Pericles to audiences on Navy Pier last year, marking the RSC’s first visit to the city in 30 years. It’s wonderful to be coming back in 2026 with Lolita Chakrabarti’s beautiful adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s Hamnet, which offers a compelling new perspective on Shakespeare through the eyes of Agnes Hathaway and their children. We can’t wait to share this intimate and moving story with US audiences.”

Playwright Lolita Chakrabarti added, “I am so excited to bring Hamnet to CST. As a theater steeped in Shakespeare and new work, this play offers both in one show. Hamnet brings to life the Shakespeare family—William, his sister and their parents, Agnes, his wife, and their three children. You will see why William went to London and discovered the theater, how his family lived without him and how the profound loss of a child gave us one of the most important plays in the western world. Hamnet is a heartwarming and heartbreaking exploration of family, loss, and the stories we tell ourselves in order to survive.”