Royal Shakespeare company to premiere Game of Thrones: The Mad King in Stratford-upon-Avon
The Royal Shakespeare Company has announced that Game of Thrones: The Mad King will receive its world premiere at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon.
The production is conceived by George R. R. Martin, adapted for the stage by Duncan Macmillan and directed by Dominic Cooke. It revisits a formative episode in Westerosi history and is billed as a theatrical prequel to the novels and the television adaptation.
What the play covers
The narrative centres on events that precede the familiar storylines. The production stages the tournament at Harrenhal and the political fallout that contributed to the realm’s descent into war. The RSC describes the work as an exploration of power, loyalty and the structures that produced conflict.
Production and ticketing
The play is co-produced with a slate of partners, including Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures and HBO. It will follow the RSC’s season announcement schedule. Priority tickets will be available to members beginning on april 14, , according to the company statement.
Significance and context
The RSC’s staging places a high-profile fantasy property within a national theatre known for classical repertoire. The collaboration raises questions about the crossover between large-scale popular franchises and established stage institutions.
From a theatre-going perspective, the premiere will test how material rooted in complex world-building translates to a live theatrical form. The company has not published full casting or running-time details at this time.
Next steps
The RSC said it will release further production details, including casting and performance dates, as part of its season schedule. Media enquiries should be directed to the company’s press office.
What the play covers and its dramatic scope
Beyond logistical and press arrangements, the production zeroes in on a seasonal thaw and a great tournament that draws the realm’s leading houses. The piece stages a collision between public spectacle and private plotting. A lavish banquet and a joust become the scene for conspiracies aimed at a volatile monarch.
The drama examines succession, loyalty and the human cost of power struggles. It traces how personal grievances and calculated alliances escalate into wider conflict. The emphasis lies on motives and missteps that cast familiar outcomes in a sharper light.
Setting and key moments
Within the saga’s chronology, the Tourney at Harrenhal acts as a catalytic episode. The stage version concentrates on encounters among figures who later assume central roles in the narrative. Rather than restage well-known events, the production seeks to reveal the decisions and relationships that redirect the course of history.
The adaptation foregrounds intimate scenes as much as spectacle. Intense private exchanges sit alongside large-scale ceremonial set pieces. This balance aims to clarify how fleeting choices at a single event can have enduring consequences for characters and the polity they shape.
Creative team and artistic approach
This production continues the narrative thread that showed how a single event can reshape a polity. The adaptation, prepared by Duncan Macmillan and staged by Dominic Cooke, deliberately adopts classical theatrical registers. The creative team points to Shakespearean templates for staging mass conflict and private ruptures. That choice frames the drama as both epic in scale and concentrated in human terms.
The direction favors sculpted crowd scenes and measured pacing. Design choices compress large sequences into clear visual motifs. The aim is to render dynastic maneuvering legible without diluting emotional detail. From a dramaturgical standpoint, the production treats prophecy and authority as variables that interact like clinical factors in a system.
Why the RSC matters for this production
George R. R. Martin and the company have argued that the Royal Shakespeare Company offers institutional expertise in history cycles. The RSC’s resources permit staging that balances spectacle with textual fidelity. Company leadership highlights parallels between Elizabethan history plays and this narrative of competing houses, saying those precedents inform decisions about scale, chorus and focal viewpoint.
Practical details and audience expectations
The world premiere will take place in the summer season at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon. Membership priority bookings open on April 14, . The company will publish public booking details as part of its wider season announcement.
Producers say the staging will balance spectacle with theatrical immediacy. Audiences should expect a production that seeks both epic scale and palpable, human moments. The creative team intends to use conventional stagecraft to render battles and courtly rituals as tangible stage action rather than distant tableaux.
The adaptation is being positioned for diverse audiences: longterm readers of the source novels, viewers of the television series, and newcomers to the narrative universe. The production aims to function independently as a dramatic work while adding context and texture for those familiar with the larger saga.
Production partners and legacy
The creative approach continues a tradition of staging large-scale historical dramas at the theatre. Directors and designers have referenced Elizabethan history plays and narratives of competing houses as frameworks for decisions about scale, chorus and focal viewpoint. From a production standpoint, this lineage shapes casting, choreography and crowd scenes.
Artistic collaborators include resident and visiting designers, movement directors and fight directors with experience in period staging and large-cast choreography. Their involvement signals an emphasis on rigorous stagecraft and safety in complex sequences.
From the audience perspective, the producers stress accessibility measures, including tiered pricing, relaxed performances and digital programme notes. The aim is to reduce barriers for first-time theatregoers while meeting expectations of established fans.
As the project develops, the company plans to publish further details about creative partners, casting and community outreach. Those announcements will indicate how the production intends to position itself within the theatre’s repertoire and the broader cultural conversation.
Collaboration frames a staged translation of a modern myth
The production is presented in collaboration with several industry backers, drawing on literary, theatrical and broadcast experience. The partnership seeks to respect the original material while testing creative possibilities unique to live performance.
From page to stage: media translation and artistic intent
For the author, the work’s movement from novel to television and now to theatre represents successive translations across media. Each translation creates a distinct encounter between creator and audience and requires new dramaturgical choices to make the story function on a live stage.
Game of Thrones: the mad king frames its narrative through Shakespearean reference points at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. The staging signals both an homage to classical drama and an attempt to recontextualise a contemporary saga for a repertory company and its audiences.
Implications for repertoire and reception
The creative team’s decisions will determine how the piece integrates into the theatre’s season and the wider cultural conversation. Casting, design and adaptation strategies will indicate whether the production leans toward faithful reproduction or bold reinvention.
Audience response and critical appraisal during the run in Stratford-upon-Avon will shape further programming and potential transfers. The production’s placement in the RSC repertoire will be observed closely by cultural commentators and commercial partners alike.