WASHINGTON DC: The Royal Shakespeare Company has announced the world premiere of ‘Game of Thrones: The Mad King,’ a new play adapted by Duncan Macmillan and directed by Dominic Cooke, with George R. R. Martin serving as executive producer and creator, reported Variety.
The production will debut at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon in the summer.
“A long winter thaws in Harrenhal, and spring is promised. At a lavish banquet on the eve of a jousting tournament, lovers meet and revellers speculate about who will contend. But in the shadows, amid growing unease at the realm’s merciless Mad King, dissenters from his inner circle anxiously advance a treasonous plot. Far away, the drums of battle sound,” reads the synopsis as quoted by Variety.
Characters from houses Targaryen, Stark, Lannister, Baratheon and Martell will feature in the theatrical play.
“The play is a prequel, taking place over a decade before the events of ‘Game of Thrones.’ A long winter has started to thaw and, for the first time in years, all the great houses come together for a tournament destined to be the greatest of the age. It feels like a new dawn, full of hope and opportunity. But tournaments always have a darker purpose,” Macmillan and Cooke said as quoted by Variety. Martin added: “When I first wrote ‘Game of Thrones,’ I never imagined that it would be anything other than a book.”
