Novelist George RR Martin says RSC is ‘obvious choice’ to put on new play The Mad King, which will open after spring
A new prequel to George RR Martin’s blockbuster fantasy saga Game of Thrones is to be staged this summer by the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon.
The bestselling author, whose novels have been turned into a juggernaut TV franchise, said the RSC was the “obvious choice” to put on the play, Game of Thrones: The Mad King, because Shakespeare had been a constant source of inspiration to him. “Not only that, he faced similar challenges in how to put a battle on stage,” added Martin. “So we are in good company.”
The play has been a long time coming: its adapter Duncan Macmillan and director Dominic Cooke were first announced in 2021 as collaborating on a Game of Thrones project for an unspecified venue. In a statement today, the pair said: “George’s storytelling is Shakespearean in its scale and its themes: dynastic struggle, ambition, rebellion, madness, prophecy, ill-fated love. From the beginning, Shakespeare’s histories and tragedies have been our primary reference for the ambition of this production, so the RSC feels like a natural home.”
Tamara Harvey and Daniel Evans, the RSC’s co-artistic directors since 2023, said the new play’s “epic cycle of warring families sits in a continuum with Shakespeare’s history cycles”. They added that the play will explore “the true nature of authority through the lens of young people grappling with inherited identities”.
