Behind the Scenes of Hamnet: Designing Shakespeare’s World of Love and Loss

In this episode of The ‪Film and Furniture Podcast, host Paula Benson sits down with Hamnet production designer Fiona Crombie and set decorator Alice Felton — both of whom have received major industry recognition for their work, including BAFTA and Academy Award (Oscar) nominations — to explore the deeply tactile, emotionally charged world of Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet. Based on Maggie O’Farrell’s award-winning novel, Hamnet reimagines the life of Shakespeare’s family through the story of Agnes (Jessie Buckley) and William Shakespeare (Paul Mescal), tracing love, grief and creativity through domestic space. Rather than leaning into literary myth, the film grounds itself in the textures of everyday life — earth, timber, fabric, candlelight and breath. This episode unpacks how design became a conduit for emotion: how houses were built from scratch, how gardens were planted to live and grow, and how colour, light and objects quietly mirror the film’s shifting psychological landscape. 🎯 Episode Highlights 🏚️ Agnes’s Family Farm: Nature as Origin Discover how Agnes’s childhood home was filmed at a real Jacobean farmhouse and dressed with period-inspired textures and surfaces. Fiona and Alice explain how the house was rooted in natural materials and lived-in detail to reflect Agnes’s deep connection to the land. 🏠 Henley Street House: Building Shakespeare’s Home Shakespeare’s family house was constructed entirely from scratch at Elstree Studios using reclaimed timbers, heavy beams and hand-aged finishes. From low ceilings and narrow arteries to an A-frame attic bedroom, the house was designed to feel pressurised, crowded and emotionally charged. 🌿 Gardens as Working Spaces Every garden in the film was built and planted for function rather than ornament — with herbs, vegetables, chickens and washing areas. A herbalist adviser ensured the plants were period-appropriate, and the garden itself was allowed to grow and change throughout the shoot. 🕯️ Candlelight, Glass & Pewter The interiors were lit primarily by beeswax candles (at Chloé Zhao’s insistence), shaping decisions around reflective surfaces, glassware and pewter plates. Hand-blown glass was commissioned in Somerset, with subtle colour variations to register emotional shifts. 🎨 Colour as Emotional Code The film’s palette is tightly controlled — until grief enters the house. Fiona and Alice reveal how bed drapes, table runners and fabrics shift from warm reds to cold blues and purples after Hamnet’s death, draining life from the space without the audience consciously noticing why. 🛏️ Crafting Everyday Objects Because ordinary domestic furniture rarely survives from the 16th century, key pieces — including Shakespeare’s bed — were made from scratch using traditional joinery, rope-woven bases and natural waxing. The goal was emotional truth rather than museum accuracy. 🎭 Rebuilding the Globe Theatre The Globe Theatre was reconstructed at 70% scale using reclaimed French oak. Inspired by Chloé Zhao’s note that it should feel “like the inside of a tree,” the theatre became a carved, organic interior rather than a monumental structure. 🧠 Behind the Scenes Fiona and Alice discuss: • Why everyday life is harder to recreate than royal interiors • How restraint creates stronger emotional impact than visual excess • Designing houses as psychological spaces rather than historical replicas • Working simultaneously on location builds and studio construction • Letting gardens, materials and textures evolve during filming 🎞️ Designers, Furniture & Objects Mentioned • Hand-blown glassware (Somerset glassmaker) • Reclaimed oak timbers (France) • Custom-built Shakespeare bed (Norfolk workshop) • Beeswax candles • Pewter plates and vessels • Herbal props sourced with specialist advisers 🔗 Links & Resources Film and Furniture books (including Hamnet) > https://filmandfurniture.com/products/books-mags/ See more in our feature > https://filmandfurniture.com/film/hamnet/ Read Film and Furniture features on design in film: https://filmandfurniture.com/features/ Join our newsletter for exclusive content, giveaways and behind-the-scenes insights: https://filmandfurniture.com/membership/ 📺 When to Watch / Listen? Whether you’re drawn to historical interiors, emotional storytelling or the craft of world-building, this episode offers a rare, in-depth look at how production design and set decoration shape feeling as much as form. Listen before or after watching Hamnet to deepen your understanding of its visual language. 🎨 Credits, Guest & Host Info Guests: Fiona Crombie – Production Designer (Hamnet) Alice Felton – Set Decorator (Hamnet) Host: Paula Benson – Founder and Editor, Film and Furniture Director: Chloé Zhao Cast including: Jessie Buckley, Paul Mescal With thanks to: Focus Features 🔔 Don’t forget to subscribe, rate and share with fellow lovers of film, design and storytelling.