Video: In Rehearsal With HAMNET at Chicago Shakespeare Theater
Performances begin February 10th and run through March 8th, 2026.
By: Joshua Wright Jan. 21, 2026
Go inside rehearsals for Chicago Shakespeare Theater's presentation of Royal Shakespeare Company's Hamnet, based on the best-selling novel by Maggie O'Farrell, adapted by award-winning playwright Lolita Chakrabarti (Life of Pi, Red Velvet, Hymn), and directed by Erica Whyman.
A co-production with the RSC and Neal Street Productions, 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 US premiere features Kemi-Bo Jacobs as Agnes and Rory Alexander as William and begins its US premiere at Chicago Shakespeare Theater in The Yard, February 10‑March 8, 2026. The production will then transfer to Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, DC, from March 17 to April 12, 2026, and American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco from April 22 to May 24, 2026.
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.
The production features set and costume design by Tom Piper, lighting design by Prema Mehta, sound design by Simon Baker, music by Oğuz Kaplangi, casting by Amy all CDG, and movement by Ayşe Tashkiran.
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