George RR Martin has announced that The Mad King, the acclaimed stage play set in the world of Game of Thrones, will transfer London next year. The Mad King, which takes place decades before the events of the Game of Thrones TV series, has this week finished its run at the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon. Martin, author of the A Song of Ice and Fire franchise, is credited as the creator of The Mad King, while Duncan Macmillan wrote the script.
Five-time Olivier Award winner Dominic Cooke served as director. On his blog last night, Martin confirmed plans to transfer The Mad King to the London stage – although details about dates and the venue are still forthcoming. The Mad King received strong reviews from critics during its initial run at the RSC.
In a four-star review, The Independent’s Alice Saville wrote: “Fans of Game of Thrones are gleefully or grimly accustomed to its creator George RR Martin's utterly pitiless narrative approach. Characters are audience faves one minute, dead the next. Like classroom goldfish, it's best not to get attached.
But where the show's breakneck narrative pace makes little room for grief, theatre has its own, more emotive logic. But there's also a surprising amount of heart – of the warm, still-beating kind – as it lingers on the faces of its fallen.” The Game of Thrones TV adaptation came to an end in 2019 after eight successful seasons on HBO. In the years since, Martin has announced a number of spinoffs, including the already-released TV series House of the Dragon and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, and a forthcoming feature film titled Game of Thrones: Aegon's Conquest.
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