Madeleine Mantock stars in the leading role in London\u2019s West End stage Royal Shakespeare Company adaptation of Maggie O\u2019Farrell\u2019s best-selling 2020 novel HAMNET, having opened at The Garrick on the 30 September 2023. Madeleine makes her RSC debut as the world-renowned playwright\u2019s wife \u2018Agnes Hathaway\u2019 in the story that puts \u2018Shakespeare\u2019s wife in the spotlight at last\u2019 (New York Times). Adapted by award-winning playwright Lolita Chakrabati (Life of Pi) this re-telling centres on the untimely death of their only son and reimagines the toll that that death would have on their family and how that may have gone on to inspire one of the greatest plays of all time, Hamlet.<\/p>\n
Recently enjoying a sold-out run in Shakespeare\u2019s home town of Stratford-Upon-Avon, following the world premiere press night, Madeleine was cited as \u2018outstanding\u2019 (The Times), exuding \u2018a compelling composure and air of otherworldliness as the seer-like Agnes\u2019 and \u2018with a serene and stoical grace\u2019 (The New York Times).<\/p>\n
Here Madeleine explains what drew her to the role and gives an insight into her beauty secrets.<\/p>\n
What initially drew you to play Agnes Hathaway?<\/strong>
\nI knew how much of a challenge it would be to try to live that story eight times a week and wanted to see if I had it in me.<\/p>\nWhat is the biggest difference between HAMNET the play and the novel by Maggie O\u2019Farrell? <\/strong>
\nLolita Chakrabarti\u2019s adaption is told in a more linear timeline than Maggie\u2019s novel. But we\u2019ve kept the essence of the story and if you\u2019re a fan of the novel you\u2019ll definitely see, on stage, the characters you discovered on the page.<\/p>\nDid it feel special to start your Hamnet journey in Stratford-Upon-Avon, Agnes\u2019 hometown? <\/strong>
\nIt did. Stratford seemed like a real shrine to William Shakespeare and so it felt exciting to be shining a light on the rest of his family in their hometown.<\/p>\nHow do you relate to Agnes?<\/strong>
\nOne thing I love about playing Agnes is that the story spans such a huge chunk of her life. We see her struggling to blossom as a young woman, falling in love, marriage, motherhood, grief and freedom. There\u2019s something for everyone to relate to.
\n<\/p>\nYour character Agnes is known for being a gifted herbalist and at one with the outside world, how do you connect with nature?<\/strong>
\nI love being outside with the trees. If I\u2019m ever feeling overwhelmed it helps to see a really sturdy tree and know that it\u2019s been through many seasons.<\/p>\nYou\u2019ve had such varied roles throughout your career \u2013 what is it that you look for before signing up to a new project?<\/strong>
\nAlways the story, the character and the people you\u2019re making it with.<\/p>\nWhat does beauty mean to you? <\/strong>
\nBeauty to me is being at peace. Accepting and looking after yourself.<\/p>\nWhat is your current beauty regime?<\/strong>
\nI know it\u2019s boring but keeping hydrated makes the most difference to my skin. If I don\u2019t, I end up with problems that I then try to fix with too many products. I like to layer a few serums (either a hyaluronic acid or niacinamide) under Embryolisse and then finish with Black Girl Sunscreen. For evening, I double cleanse, first with DHC, an oil cleanser, and then again with a gel cleanser or Ph balancing Gallin\u00e9e bar. If my skin feels textured I might use Paula\u2019s Choice Liquid Exfoliant and then finish with some rose water and Skin Food. I also really love the Glossier Balm Dotcom in rose and coconut.<\/p>\nDo you have any hero products you couldn\u2019t live without? <\/strong>
\nSkin Food and clear brow gel.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Galerij Links:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,46,24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8199","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fotoshoots","category-madeleine-mantock","category-tijdschriften"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.charmed-online.nl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8199","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.charmed-online.nl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.charmed-online.nl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.charmed-online.nl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.charmed-online.nl\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8199"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.charmed-online.nl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8199\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8203,"href":"https:\/\/www.charmed-online.nl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8199\/revisions\/8203"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.charmed-online.nl\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.charmed-online.nl\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8199"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.charmed-online.nl\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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