Four years after Shakespeare’s only son died at the age of 11, he wrote the greatest play in the English language.

Lolita Chakrabarti’s stage adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s novel pushes the more famous father aside to focus on his wife Agnes ‘Anne’ Hathaway (Madeleine Mantock) and their children, Susannah (Phoebe Campbell) and twins Hamnet (Ajani Cabey) and Judith (Alex Jarrett).

Erica Whyman’s no-frills production tells the story of how Hamnet died and Hamlet was born.

The wooden-beamed set invokes both Elizabethan Stratford and London playhouses and, while the story of Shakespeare’s (Tom Varey) rise from Latin tutor to dramatist is relatively pedestrian, the characters throb with life – notably Peter Wight as Will’s glove-maker father John (“Whenever I see sheep, I see gloves”) and Liza Sadovy as Will’s mother Mary.

It’s perfectly serviceable though the conspicuous lack of dramatic conflict and Chakrabarti’s inability to pull all the thematic threads tight leaves the play loosely hemmed around the edges.

Hamnet, Garrick Theatre until February 17 Tickets: 0330 333 4811

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