By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ***

WHEN?: Monday 9 November, opens 12 November and runs through 23 January 2027 RUNTIME: 100 minutes (no interval)

The best thing about this collision between Shakespeare’s 400-year-old play and Radiohead’s Grammy-winning 2003 album is the undeniable power of the live band here playing its angry, discordant rock during frequent moments of horror.

• Read on for reasons including how while there were very many elements of this work we enjoyed, we didn’t feel it came together as a particular coherent whole

There’s much to enjoy also from this stripped-back examination of the text by adapters Christine Jones and Steven Hoggett who manage to both slash the play’s traditional running time while elevating the role of Hamlet’s former love Ophelia, a fine Ami Tredrea.

Samuel Blenkin (TV’s Alien: Earth) gives us a Hamlet driven quite mad by witnessing the ghost of his father – King Hamlet – as his mother marries his uncle who becomes Denmark’s King Claudius.

Paul Hilton (Mass, Donmar Warehouse) plays both Claudius and the ghost and as the former chews the scenery while very publicly enjoying the physical pleasures offered by his newfound queen much to Hamlet’s displeasure.

The acrobatic formation dance elements are both impressive and energising reminding of Christine And The Queens in their heyday with Miles Barrow as Rosencrantz and Felipe Pacheco as Guildernstern especially rubber-limbed.

This is particularly of interest as we anticipate the release of Andrew Scott film Elsinore. However, our problem with Hamlet Hail To The Thief is the suitability of Radiohead’s album for bringing the best from the beloved play.

We were fans of Radiohead’s early albums – 1993’s Pablo Honey which includes Creep and 1995’s The Bends – but rather went off them as they went prog rock which is very much where these orchestrations around Hail To The Thief sit.

We’ve described how in moments of horror here – especially the duelling denouement – the new music works well but we’re less convinced by the quieter elements of this classic.

Hamlet Hail To The Thief arrives at the Barbican following sold-out runs in Manchester and Stratford-upon-Avon, and is co-created by Radiohead’s Thom Yorke who has reworked the band’s 6th album into a deconstructed score aiming to illuminate the text while performed by live musicians.

Undoubtedly there will be very many Radiohead fans for whom this iteration of the band’s music will be utterly thrilling particularly in a new theatrical form.

However, while there were very many elements of this work we enjoyed, we didn’t feel it came together as a particular coherent whole.

• Main pictures by Manuel Harlan via Facebook courtesy Barbican Centre Tickets
• Have you seen a Radiohead show before and what did you think of it? Let us know what you thought in the comments below
• Enjoyed this preview? Follow monstagigz on Twitter @NeilDurham, email neildurham3@gmail.com and check us out on Instagram and Facebook