Casting has been revealed for the upcoming U.S. tour of Lolita Chakrabarti's stage adaptation of Maggie O'Farrell's novel Hamnet, set to make its U.S. premiere at Chicago Shakespeare Theater February 10-March 8. The tour also includes stops at Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, D.C. March 17-April 12, and San Francisco's American Conservatory Theater April 22-May 24.

The cast will be led by Kemi-Bo Jacobs as Agnes and Rory Alexander as William; with Troy Alexander as Bartholomew; Nigel Barrett as John and Will Kempe; Ajani Cabey as Hamnet and Thomas Day; Saffron Dey as Judith; Victoria Elliott as Joan and Elizabeth Condell; Heather Forster as Eliza; Karl Haynes as Ned, Henry Condell, and Physician; Ava Hinds Jones as Susanna; Nicki Hobday as Jude and Physician’s Wife; Penny Layden as Mary; Matilda McCarthy as Tilly, Caterina, and Will’s Landlady; and Bert Seymour as Burbage and Father John. Understudies Haydn Burke and Thalia Gambe will round out the company.

The work is coming stateside after making its world premiere via Royal Shakespeare Company in 2023, later running in London's West End. The work tracks the grief and recovery of William Shakespeare and his wife, Agnes, following the loss of their 11-year-old son to the plague. 

O'Farrell's novel has also been separately adapted for the screen with a screenplay by O'Farrell and director Chloé Zhao, winning Best Picture at the Golden Globes January 11.

Erica Whyman will again direct after staging the U.K. runs, with set and costume design by Tom Piper, lighting design by Prema Mehta, sound design by Simon Baker, music by Oğuz Kaplangi, and movement by Ayşe Tashkiran.

Tickets for all three tour stops are available from ChicagoShakes.com, ShakespeareTheatre.org, and ACT-SF.org.