Hamlet - Into The Manosphere (2026)
by William Shakespeare, adapted by David Frost
Performances: Tuesday 18 – Saturday 23 May 2026, Old Fire Station
Contents
Introduction
A modern retelling of Shakespeare's most famous tale, which sees Hamlet as a toxic masculine influencer marshalling his millions of followers against his treacherous uncle.
Preview from SLT website
What inspired you to retell Hamlet for the influencer age?
My obsession with Shakespeare and Hamlet in particular started with a neurodivergent-friendly “deep-dive” school project in Year 7. I became so fixated that I had all but memorized the play by fourteen and it’s been with me ever since. In the meantime, over the course of twenty years in the secondary classroom, I’ve witnessed the impacts on an entire generation of the ever-croaching ‘unweeded garden’ of smartphones and social media. I both admire and am very fond of the much-maligned Gen Z, trapped as they are between the ‘rock’ of untrammeled new technologies, and the ‘hard place’ that is the terminal decline of Late Capitalism. I wanted to see how Shakespeare’s ideas on identity and the relationship between the public and the private would play out in our world, where “to be” means being “to be online,” and where the best vengeance Hamlet can wreak on his uncle is to troll him to his global online following!
What adaptations have you made?
The primary difference is how Hamlet’s decision to ‘put an anctic disposition on’ – pretend to be mad – involves, in our version, taking on the highly eccentric, provocative and disruptive guise of an Andrew Tate-style influencer of the so-called ‘Manosphere’ – also evoking figures such as Kanye West in his online outrages of recent years. This is highly topical right now, with ‘Adolescence’ and Louis Theroux’s Netflix documentary introducing the wider public to these disturbing new sociological developments – but of course, since the deep and nuanced analysis and critique of masculinity is one of Shakespeare’s major themes, it feels like a perfect lens through which to explore Hamlet.
How have you brought together social media and Shakespeare?
We use live feeds to bridge the stage-to-screen gap. Hamlet’s soliloquies are intimate, vertical “TikTok” livestreams, projecting the outpourings of his private mind onto giant screens to be consumed by a mass audience. We have also made extensive use of AI to realise aspects of the story which traditionally would left to the poetry of the dialogue and the imaginations of the audience members.
What have been the directing challenges for you?
The tech is a beast, but my biggest hurdle, given my recent ADHD diagnosis, was always going to be the oranisation of such a complex show. Fortunately, I’ve benefited from such an amazing, lovely, talented, reliable and commited cast of actors and production team, that the process, counter to my apprehensions, has been a dream.
Describe the play in three words.
Glitchy. Existential. Hallucinatory.
Cast
- Hamlet, Prince of Denmark - Jamie Bowman
- King Claudius - Tirusanthan Thiruvilangam
- Queen Gertrude - Philippa Jones
- Polonius - Nick Howard
- Ophelia - Megan Brontё
- Laertes - Tom Boxall
- Rosencrantz, or gentle Guildenstern - Flora Blissett
- Guildenstern, or gentle Rosencrantz - Edward Smith
- Horatio - Daniel Drema
- The Spirit of Comedy / Marcella / Player Queen / Psychiatric Nurse / Osric / Second Gravedigger - Laura-Jayne Woods
- The Spirit of Tragedy / Voice of King Hamlet / Royal Aide / Player King / First Gravedigger - Oyeko Hanson
Crew
- Assistant Director - Jake Levy
- Stage Manager - Dennis Fenton
- Tech Manager - James Jackson
- Assistant Stage Managers - Kay Pang, Matthew Phillips and Lucien Gautel
- Lighting and Sound Designer - James Jackson
- Operator - Graeme Kaye
- Production Assistant - Lisa Thomas
- Costumes - Xinyi Huang
- Show Photography - Phil Gammon
- Fight Coordinator - Calum Speed
- Intimacy Coordinator - Giselle Parker
- Rigging and Set Build - Sean Thomas, the cast and crew of Nora, Dennis Fenton, Kay Pang, James Jackson, Jake Levy, David Frost and the cast
- Media Content Creation - Theo Burman, Megan Sheerin, Jamie Bowman, Dean Moore, Camille Frost, David Frost, Jessica Frost, Tom Watts, Lucien Gautel
Music
- Music composed, arranged, compiled and recorded by Camille Frost, drawing on compositions by Olivier Messiaen and Arvo Pärt
- Piano and Cello - Camille Frost
- Saxophone and Clarinet - Laura-Jayne Woods
- Guitar - David Frost
Reviews
Saffy Andrews: Had the privilege of watching the dress for ‘Hamlet‘ yesterday and it was ‘AMAZING’. Very well done and well thought out with great comedy. Massive well done to the cast and crew, please go watch this week if you have the chance.
Lisa Thomas: Even if you’ve seen Hamlet many times before, you won’t have seen a version like David Frost’s hi-tech, TikTok-influenced take. In this retelling, Hamlet, devastated by his father’s death, dives deep into the toxic masculinity of the ‘manosphere’, dragging those around him into his increasingly deranged world. With a reduced cast and pared back stage, much of the backstory is told via video, while in other scenes the action onstage is magnified on screen via a livestream. It’s effectively disorienting and unnerving but doesn’t detract from the power of the language of this, perhaps the most famous and influential of Shakespeare’s plays. SLT have largely avoided it - it’s only been done once before in nearly 60 years - but this production is absolutely worth your time. Plaudits to all involved.
Barry Heselden: Bloody brilliant. Go see.
Gallery
Reminiscences and Anecdotes
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See Also
Have there been other SLT productions of this play? Link to them here.
Or add anything that is related within this site. The author's page for instance or other plays with a similar theme.
