Chicago Shakespeare Theater: Hamnet
Rory Alexander and Kemi-Bo Jacobs
Chicago Shakespeare Theater Presents HAMNET Review - Shakespeare in Love
TLDR: Painting a new picture of William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway, Hamnet shows us a version of Will and Agnes as a couple bound by love for each other and their family. It shows their life together, including the tragedy that may have loosely inspired Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
Kemi-Bo Jacobs as Agnes, with Rory Alexander
A Love That Transcends Time at Chicago Shakes
A book, a movie, and now a play. The fictional backstory of Shakespeare’s inspiration for Hamlet has had many media forms. Here at Chicago Shakes, we get to see the Royal Shakespeare Company’s production in the staged version. Two young figures run around the stage playing tag. Overhead, speakers play their voices as they talk to each other, almost as if they’re in an alternate, timeless space. The pale blue and white lights that bathed the stage change to gold, warming the stage as the rest of the cast crosses the stage in a flurry of activity.
When the dust settles we have our two main figures Will and Agnes, soon to become the Shakespeares. They’re in love. Him, only a Latin tutor living at home with a father who doesn’t think he’s accomplished anything with his life. Her, an herbalist with an otherworldly talent of being able to hear the other side. Different lives, and yet they recognize they both experience the world in different ways and see that in the other.
Rory Alexander and Kemi-Bo Jacobs as Will and Agnes show us the full scope of the Shakespeares as a couple and as a family. We see they’re drawn to each other, always within a few feet of each other as if they can’t help it. We see their children being born and Will making his living in London as a playwright, but rushing home to see his family when they call. And attempting no spoilers here, we also see the tragedy that befalls their family and how Will turned that into his arguably most famous work, Hamlet.
They’re accompanied by a cast of other talented actors creating the world around these two - Nicki Hobday makes us loathe Agnes’ stepmother as she spews nothing but contempt for her. Heather Forster as Will’s sister Eliza is endearing as she warms to Agnes and offers to make her her bridal crown. And when Ava Hinds Jones, Saffron Dey, and Ajani Cabey are all together as the Shakespeare children, we feel their sibling energy. Jones as the oldest, Susanna, standing dutifully by her mother’s side while Dey and Cabey as the twins, Judith and Hamnet, are an inseparable pair playing harmless pranks on the others.
There’s so much warmth and love coming from this production that paints us a well rounded portrait of Shakespeare’s world back in 1596.
Striking Imagery and Mysticism
The main wooden A-frame surrounded by tall, wooden posts and multiple floors and balconies becomes everything from the Shakespeare household, to the annex, to the Globe theatre. The cast creates the different scenes with that flurry of activity bringing on different set pieces - rolling on tables and tools for John Shakespeare’s shop or hanging up garlands when Agnes and Will are getting married.
While there’s this realism feeling keeping us grounded alongside the rural people of Stratford, Hamnet is Agnes’ story - a retelling from what we thought we knew about Anne Hathaway and giving us more depth to her. There’s an element of mysticism that takes us into Agnes’ world. We hear the disembodied voices that she hears across the veil. When her pregnancy with the twins is growing, long white silks are drawn around her creating her rounded belly. Dried plants, flowers, and herbs hang from the ladders in her household as she creates home remedies and tinctures, caring for her beloved children.
We see her abilities at feeling things yet to come and the production balances those supernatural happenings with the real life events happening to the family through these theatrical elements.
Saffron Dey and Ajani Cabey
The After Party Thoughts
Hamnet paints a more loving picture of the Shakespeares than history has previously represented and gives more depth to Anne/Agnes herself. It’s a reflection on love, family, and grief; how the Shakespeares came to be and the love they shared, even as life pulled them in different directions. And more importantly how even when they were apart in their grief, they managed to cope with it in different ways, ultimately assuring Hamnet will not be forgotten.
Hamnet shows the complexities of love, life, and death. For those that aren’t a fan of Shakespeare or character plays, this may not be the show for you. For those that love any and all things Shakespeare related and want a story about him and Anne being in love, Hamnet would be a good fit for you.
RECOMMENDED
Kemi-Bo Jacobs and Rory Alexander
When
Now through March 8, 2026
Where
Chicago Shakespeare Theater
800 East Grand Avenue
Chicago, IL 60611
Runtime: 2hrs 30 min, including intermission
Tickets
$58+
Tickets can be purchased by calling the box office at 312.595.5600 or through the Chicago Shakespeare Theater website
Photos
Kyle Flubacker
Find Allie and The After Party featured on Theatre in Chicago
Kemi-Bo Jacobs, with Ajani Cabey and Saffron Dey
CAST
Rory Alexander (Will)
Troy Alexander (Bartholomew)
Nigel Barrett (John / Will Kempe)
Haydn Burke (Ensemble)
Ajani Cabey (Hamnet)
Elizabeth Connick (Tilly; at Chicago Shakespeare Theater)
Saffron Dey (Judith)
Nicki Hobday (Joan / Elizabeth Condell)
Heather Forster (Eliza)
Thalia Gambe (Ensemble)
Karl Haynes (Ned)
Ava Hinds Jones (Susanna)
Nicki Hobday (Joan / Elizabeth Condell; at Chicago Shakespeare Theater)
Kemi-Bo Jacobs (Agnes)
Penny Layden (Mary)
Matilda McCarthy (Jude / Physician’s Wife / Will’s Landlady / Caterina; at Chicago Shakespeare Theater)
Bert Seymour (Burbage / Father John)
CREATIVE
Lolita Chakrabarti (Playwright / Adaptor)
Erica Whyman (Director)
Tom Piper (Set and Costume Designer)
Prema Mehta (Lighting Designer)
Simon Baker (Sound Designer)
Oğuz Kaplangi (Composer)
Amy Ball, CDG (Casting Director)
Ayşe Tashkiran (Movement Director)
Kate Waters (Fight Director)
Marius Arnold-Clarke (Company Stage Manager)
Chloe Forestier-Walker (Deputy Stage Manager)
Danny Fender (AEA Stage Manager)