Little Lark of London

“If you pull the threads apart, it’ll fray”

Hamnet, Lolita Chakrabarti’s stage adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s novel, tells a story of love and grief through the eyes of Agnes Hathawy and William Shakespeare as they struggle with growing up in abusive households, falling in love, having children and losing their son, Hamnet. Madeleine Mantock stars as Agnes, a young woman who is in touch with the spiritual world around her, communicating with the dead and seeing visions of the future. She feels as though at times she has one foot in the spiritual world and one in the world of the living, and then sometimes she feels completely crossed over to join the spirits. Mantock does a fantastic job of portraying Agnes, particularly in her interactions with those who do not understand her like her stepmother [Sarah Belcher] and in-laws. 

William, played by Tom Varey, is an interesting take on the Bard, struggling at home in Stratford-upon-Avon as a Latin tutor with an abusive father [Peter Wight] and struggling mother [Liza Sadovy] and sister [Mhairi Gayer]. Varey is truly able to shine when Shakespeare goes to London and is given the opportunity to work on his plays, including a beautiful monlogue in which he describes his writing process, saying that he begins like “a blindman on a tightrope” and ending my saying “I live in this other world where I am God.” 

The romance between Agnes and William begins quickly and does not have much chemistry to be built upon, making it a bit difficult to believe how dedicated the two are to one another, though it does lead to the more believable rumour that William was having affairs in London. With William off in London in the second act, Agnes takes centre stage, interacting with her children and communicating with the spirits beyond. 

In the second act, Phoebe Campbell, Alex Jarrett and Ajani Cabey are given the chance to shine as Susanna, Judith and Hamnet respectively, the children of Agnes and William. Susanna, the older sister, is exasperated yet full of love for the younger twins, who seem to share a mental bond that cannot be broken in life. Jarrett and Cabey do a fantastic job depicting the deep bond twins have with one another, playing pranks on each other one minute and hugging each other the next. Their relationship makes the inevitable death of Hamnet even more heartbreaking, especially in the way it happens in the play. 

The set, designed by Tom Piper, is simplet yet incredibly effective, with different structures forming letters to represent characters, including an “A” for “Agnes” and an “H” for “Hamnet.” But the highlight of the set design comes in during the final scenes of the show when the audience is brought into the Globe Theatre. 

One of my favourite little things in the show were the references to Shakespeare including the Globe being dismantled over a dispute with the landlord, the confusing plot of A Comedy of Terrors with its two sets of twins and even one of the actors commenting on how it would be a good idea for Shakespeare to split Henry IV into multiple parts. It is in comedic moments like this when Hamnet gives audience members a moment to laugh in between moments of tragedy and grief.

I would have loved to see the creative team lean more towards the magical aspects of Agnes’s life, particularly the relationships that she has with the dead and how they affect her relationships with the living. The dramatic whispers of names in the spiritual world, particularly “Hamnet,” were quite cheesy and took away from the mystical parts of the show. I also would have been interested in seeing more on how Hamnet’s death directly affect Hamlet, as the play is the reason Agnes and Will reunite, but there is little dialogue between the pair to explain the reasoning. 

At times, Hamnet feels a bit too modern, with phrases and words being used that feel out of place in 16th-century England. It is sometimes jarring to be listening to a beautiful monologue that could have jumped straight out of Shakespeare’s works and then suddenly be hearing two characters chat as if they are in modern-day London. Composer Oguz Kaplangi’s music is interesting, but it is a bit sudden and short at times, cutting into serious moments in a way that removes some of the impact of the scenes. 

Ultimately, Hamnet is a beautiful story of love and loss, at times struggling to find itself in between magic and realism. The performers are fantastic and the set is gorgeous, creating a strong ensemble piece in borth Warwickshire and London. 

Hamnet runs until 17 February at the Garrick Theatre. Tickets can be purchased here.

Photo Credit: Manuel Harlan © RSC