Game of Thrones Prequel The Mad King Set to Return in 2027

The Mad King lives. The Royal Shakespeare Company’s sold-out stage production of Game of Thrones: The Mad King closed in Stratford-upon-Avon in September. The run’s end doesn’t finish the spinoff, which is a prequel to Game of Thrones from George R.R. Martin.

The production team has revealed that The Mad King will return to the stage in London in 2027.

Martin announced the move on his blog in September. “I had a splendid time in Stratford-upon-Avon for the premiere of Duncan Macmillan and Dominic Cooke’s epic new stage production of Game of Thrones: The Mad King,” he wrote, “and furthermore, I’m thrilled to announce that the production will be moving on to London to share the experience with a wider audience.”

The venue and dates for the London run have not been announced. Casting is also unconfirmed, though fans will hope that as many original cast members as possible return. Dominic Cooke directs the play, and Duncan Macmillan, who wrote Every Brilliant Thing, wrote it.

What is Game of Thrones: The Mad King about?

The play is a prequel to HBO’s Game of Thrones, which adapted Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire books. It focuses mainly on the events that led up to Robert’s Rebellion, namely the jousting tournament at Harrenhal.

The main characters include younger versions of familiar faces from the show, such as Ned Stark and Robert Baratheon. Long-dead legends appear too, including Lyanna Stark, Rhaegar Targaryen and the Mad King himself. The core of the play is the romance between Rhaegar and Lyanna, which fans know eventually leads to the birth of Jon Snow.

The Royal Shakespeare Company adds a new dimension to Martin’s world of political scheming, helped by puppetry that depicts the jousting. In our review, we wrote that “It’s hard to point to anything particularly uninspiring about The Mad King that stems from its own flaws… Try as The Mad King might, it’s far more enjoyable if you divorce the stage play adaptation from HBO’s Game of Thrones entirely. Judging it on its own merits transforms The Mad King into a masterpiece of pure Shakespearean art, rather than a prequel to a once-great-now-middling fantasy TV series.”

Fans of the show, or of good Shakespearean theater, will want to watch for details on the London production.

Related reading: 4 wild details from The Mad King that completely change Game of Thrones canon

Source: Polygon