Maggie O’Farrell’s best-selling novel, HAMNET, has been adapted for the stage by Lolita Chakrabarthi. It’s at the RSC now, then moving to London’s Garrick Theatre in June for a long run. It’s a hot ticket too. LINK TO REVIEW OF HAMNET here. Fascinating story, beautifully performed and a major return to form for the RSC re-opening the Swan Theatre (after a couple of unusually poor productions).
Peter Viney's Blog 
Peter,
Many thanks for the Hamnet review. You mentioned that you hadn’t yet read the original book and I thought you might be interested in this review I made after reading the book soon after it came out in 2020.
All the best, Paul
“HAMNET by Maggie O’Farrell, Tinder Press, London, 2020.
Hamnet was William Shakespeare’s son, one of twins, who died aged eleven. An introductory note by this author tells us that Hamnet and Hamlet are the same name, interchangeable in Stratford records in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
Centred around Hamnet the story takes in all of Shakespeare’s family, bringing them to life as characters rather than simply historical names we may have heard of. It goes back into the time before Shakespeare was famous and before his children were born. We learn of Shakespeare’s father, the glove maker, a bitter and violent man, a cheat who once held a high position in the town but was politely shunned by those in influence later. Most surprising of all is the character of Anne Hathaway, or Agnes to give her real name. The ‘g’ is silent so her name sounds a lot like Anne. She is a wild and independent creature who can see into people’s minds and into the spirit world and heal with herbs and incantations. The way this story tells it Agnes becomes pregnant on purpose so that she and Will can marry as he has already asked for her hand but been denied by both sets of parents. In fact the book is really the story of Agnes (Anne Hathaway), an extraordinary woman in this account.
The sixteenth century way of life is exceptionally well researched not only in everyday visual details but in the attitudes and outlook of the time, with similes and metaphors that fit the period. Pestilence or plague were rife in those times with Shakespeare often returning to Stratford when the London theatres were shut and it reminds us of the present day lockdowns with the similar closure of entertainment venues.
The author admits that most of the story has to be fictional, actual facts on the characters of Shakespeare’s family other than their names are scarce and lost in time. But she has given us an entertaining and perhaps alternative view of the Bard’s life that fits with what is historically known.”
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