Perhaps because of its themes of love and loss, Maggie O’Farrell’s award-winning Hamnet became one of the most talked-about books of 2020. The novel, which has sold more than 1.5 million copies, explores the private life of William Shakespeare, his wife Anne (Madeleine Mantock), and how the loss of their 11-year-old son, Hamnet, inspired the heartbroken bard to write Hamlet.
Adapted by Lolita Chakrabarti (who recently wrote the stage script for Life of Pi), the play was first performed at Stratford-upon-Avon before being transferred to London’s Garrick Theatre, where Madeleine Mantock, 33, has been receiving rave reviews.
Born in Nottingham and having studied musical theatre at Chiswick’s Arts Educational Schools, Madeleine Mantock appeared in 36 episodes of Casualty before, in 2018, landing one of the lead parts in the rebooted American fantasy drama Charmed. Mantock’s West End debut came in 2021 when she appeared alongside Jennifer Saunders in Richard Eyre’s Blithe Spirit.
I think it is a universal story. We delve into the imagined family life of our country’s greatest writer and explore everything from love and loss, to self-expression and legacy. It’s much funnier than I think people anticipate, which is a nice salve to some of the sadness.
I love screen acting, because the camera becomes one of your scene partners and it’s really rewarding to section off 10 per cent of your brain to consider those technical elements. The joy of theatre is that it’s the audience who is part of each scene, in real time. You become very attuned to what they find funny or shocking and it’s a great feeling when you’ve won them over and they are really listening.
It can be very taxing and I try to be disciplined about staying hydrated and getting enough rest, but still, some days I’m not sure how I’m going to get through it. Peter Wight [who plays Shakespeare’s father, John] always says that ‘Dr. Theatre’ will see to it, which I find oddly comforting.
Twelfth Night. It was one of the first plays I studied at school and I loved how clever the twists and turns were. We also wouldn’t have the seminal classic She’s the Man if not for Twelfth Night!
Julia Roberts, Eddie Murphy and Olivia Colman.
I’d love to have omnilingualism. I think it would be really cool to be able to travel anywhere in the world, no matter how remote, and be able to communicate.
London is currently home for me. I’m very grateful to have spent most of my 20s travelling with work, but I’m very happy to be nesting for a while.
I still get giddy walking through Soho and around the theatre district. It doesn’t matter if it’s during the buzz of summer or the festivities of winter – it always feels like something really exciting is happening.
The NoMad – it’s moody and decadent.
Belvedere in Holland Park is outrageously magical.
I’d go back to the 17th century and meet my ancestors. Maybe pop in to see some Shakespeare on the way back!
Hamnet runs until 17 February 2024, visit thegarricktheatre.co.uk
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