The Hollywood impact of Hamnet on Stratford and Weobley

Even earlier than its theatrical launch, Hamnet, directed by Chloé Zhao and starring Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal, was tipped for fulfillment on the Oscars.

Based on the award-winning 2020 novel by Maggie O’Farrell, the movie is a fictional account exploring the lives of William Shakespeare, his spouse Agnes, actual identify Anne Hathaway, and their household.

Now, due to the hype surrounding the movie, which was launched within the UK on Friday, filming and historic areas are hoping the Hollywood impact will assist increase tourism.

Shakespeare, after all, was from Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire. But a lot of the historic drama was filmed about 60 miles (96.5km) away within the village of Weobley in Herefordshire. Can a sprinkle of Hollywood glamour flip eyes to the West Midlands?

“I think it’ll be extraordinary for the town, I think the benefits are huge, because albeit we understand that it wasn’t filmed in Stratford, it shines a light on Anne Hathaway’s cottage,” stated Richard Paterson, chief working officer on the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.

“Hamnet reimagines the families, landscapes, and influences of home, which is so fundamental in what Shakespeare wrote about.

“If I used to be a member of the general public, why would I not need to go and see the place it truly occurred?”

“Shakespeare was impressed by the panorama, the world in Warwickshire… when Maggie O’Farrell visited she was equally impressed,” he said.

He said the town already had relatively high footfall, and although too early to definitively say what effect the film would have, he believes it will make its mark.

“The city can solely count on an uplift, I would not be stunned if it was a ten, 15, 20 per cent uplift.”

He added that the exposure was “completely vital” in keeping Shakespeare alive.

“What is so nice about movie, and the e book, and the reimagining, is it demonstrates how Shakespeare nonetheless resonates right now.”

“Any recreations will profit regionally, nationally, and globally – it emphasises and amplifies the significance of him and his works.”

The trust owns five family homes related to the playwright, Anne Hathaway’s cottage, Shakespeare’s birthplace, his mother’s farm, Shakespeare’s new place (where he died) and Halls Croft, where his family lived beyond his life.

“Stratford as a city continues to be unchanged, so that you’d nonetheless be strolling down the identical streets as Shakespeare and his household did,” he added.

In Herefordshire, Nick Mason, county councillor for the Weobley ward said: “The sleepy village of Weobley actually awakened… it was slightly little bit of Hollywood in Hereford.”

“This movie is the advertising and marketing or promoting that cash simply cannot purchase.”

Despite going through a transformation for filming, such as blocking off signage and covering the streets in straw, the village still bears some resemblance to 1596, the time period the film is set in.

Many of the black and white buildings are from the late 15th and early 16th century and the landscape nearby is described by Visit Herefordshire as “bucolic” and “Shakespearean”, so visitors keen to immerse themselves in the film’s world won’t have to stretch their imagination.

In fact, the village has already had visitors attracted by the film The history society said it bumped into tourists on Boxing Day.

“The entire Hollywood impact, the Hamnet Herefordshire impact goes to be actually actually good for our tourism business in Herefordshire,” said Jo Hilditch, chair of Visit Herefordshire.

“We’re actually capitalising on Hamnet, we have got Hamnet trails, falconry, foraging.”

The Hamnet-inspired walking trail starts in Weobley, taking visitors through areas where it was filmed, across green fields and through country lanes, ending in Pembridge, another village famed for its black-and-white timber-framed buildings and which is a two hour walk away.

There is also an exhibition in the village’s library and museum about the filming process.

“Tourism is a big problem in Herefordshire… rising our tourism by even a small quantity goes to have a huge effect on the quantity of providers we are able to present for our residents,” added Mason.

“Everybody needs a village that has acquired a pub in it, and a restaurant and eating places… the extra tourism, the extra probably it’s these locations will prosper, so it is nice for the longevity and the sustainability of the village.

“We are working with partners to make sure that people understand what they can do in Herefordshire and how they can come and visit.”