Bold claim: a Game of Thrones prequel has landed with the Royal Shakespeare Company, promising an epic stage chapter before the HBO era even began. But here’s where it gets controversial: is this the right move for a sprawling fantasy saga to live on stage, or a risky misfit for live theatre? Either way, the plan is to stage Game of Thrones: The Mad King this summer in Stratford-upon-Avon.
George R.R. Martin, whose bestselling books sparked a global media phenomenon, has called the RSC the natural choice to mount the play, noting that Shakespeare’s approach to large-scale clashes on stage influenced him. “Not only that, he faced similar challenges in how to put a battle on stage,” Martin said, suggesting the collaboration feels thematically fitting.
The project has been in development for some time. Duncan Macmillan, the adaptor, and Dominic Cooke, the director, were first revealed in 2021 as collaborators on a Game of Thrones stage venture for an unspecified venue. Today they describe the work as drawing on George’s storytelling, which they liken to Shakespeare in its scale and themes—dynastic feuds, ambition, rebellion, madness, prophecy, and doomed romance. They frame the RSC as the natural home because of those Shakespearean roots.
Tamara Harvey and Daniel Evans, the RSC’s co-artistic directors since 2023, say the new play sits in a continuum with Shakespeare’s history plays, and will probe “the true nature of authority through the lens of young people grappling with inherited identities.” Martin will serve as executive producer and has already visited Stratford, reportedly enjoying the armoury department. He reflects on A Game of Thrones, published in 1996, as a limitless space for his imagination that surprisingly extended to television—and now to the stage, something he embraces with enthusiasm.
Produced by HBO, Game of Thrones aired eight seasons from 2011 to 2019 and has already spawned two televised prequels: House of the Dragon and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. The new production unfolds roughly a decade before the events of the main series and will feature familiar noble houses, including Targaryen, Stark, Lannister, Baratheon, and Martell. A synopsis hints at a season-best winter thaw at Harrenhal, a banquet before a jousting tournament, romance and revelry, a brewing treason plot within the king’s inner circle, and the distant drums of war.
Several actors who later joined the TV series had earlier appeared with the RSC, among them Julian Glover, Diana Rigg, Sean Bean, Charles Dance, and Iain Glen. Specific casting and performance dates for the new play have not yet been announced, but tickets will go on sale in April. The production will take place in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre’s main venue, a space that seats just over 1,000 guests.
Some observers worry that theatres are leaning too heavily on adaptations of popular novels and TV shows. Still, the RSC hopes to draw new audiences by leveraging the franchise, much as it did with its acclaimed adaptation of Studio Ghibli’s My Neighbor Totoro, which opened at the Barbican in 2022 and has enjoyed a long West End run. The company has also been navigating financial pressures, including plans to reduce its workforce and seek savings amid a challenging funding landscape.
Macmillan and Cooke—who is preparing to assume the Almeida Theatre’s artistic director role—describe the project as thrilling for audiences who are already fans and for newcomers alike. They envision a production that feels both intimate in its storytelling and expansive in its epic scope, inviting listeners to experience an adaptation that translates George R.R. Martin’s world into a live, stage-worthy drama.
