Following a sold out run at the National Theatre tickets go on sale today from 12 noon for the National Theatre and Neal Street Productions critically acclaimed new play by Jack Thorne, The Motive and the Cue. Inspired by the making of Burton and Gielgud’s Hamlet, the play is directed by Sam Mendes. Playing for a strictly limited season at the Noël Coward Theatre from 9 December 2023 until 23 March 2024 with an official opening night on Monday 18 December 2023.
Johnny Flynn, Mark Gatiss and Tuppence Middleton will return to play the iconic roles of Richard Burton, John Gielgud and Elizabeth Taylor. Further casting to be announced.
Richard Burton, newly married to Elizabeth Taylor, is to play the title role in an experimental new production of Hamlet under John Gielgud’s exacting direction. But as rehearsals progress, two ages of theatre collide and the collaboration between actor and director soon threatens to unravel.
Set design is by Es Devlin, costume designer is Katrina Lindsay, lighting designer is Jon Clark, composer is Benjamin Kwasi Burrell, sound designer is Paul Arditti, casting by Alastair Coomer CDG and Naomi Downham, associate director is Zoé Ford Burnett and staff director Yasmin Hafesji.
Originally commissioned by Neal Street Productions and developed and co-produced with the National Theatre, The Motive and the Cue is currently playing to sold-out audiences in the Lyttelton theatre until 15 July.
National Theatre Director and Chief Executive Rufus Norris said, “We’re delighted to be transferring The Motive and the Cue to the Noël Coward Theatre later this year continuing our collaboration with Neal Street Productions. Sam Mendes’s production brings the theatrical process to life so vividly, perfectly capturing that heady time in history, with Mark, Johnny and Tuppence playing these well-loved characters with whom we are all so familiar. We’re so excited to have multiple productions transferring from the National Theatre to the West End this year, testament to the appetite of audiences for live theatre. Motive has been playing to packed houses at the NT all summer and we are thrilled that there will now be more opportunities for a new audience to see Jack’s great play.”
Inspired by Letters from an Actor by William Redfield and John Gielgud Directs Richard Burton in Hamlet by Richard L. Sterne.
Tickets can be booked from £20 at TheMotiveandtheCue.com. Assisted performances are available across the run.
