The Motive and the Cue West End transfer – tickets, dates and cast

New play The Motive and the Cue transfers to the West End this year.

The National Theatre production will run at the Noël Coward Theatre from 9 December 2023 – 23 March 2024. Tickets are on sale now here

Sam Mendes directs the piece by Jack Thorne inspired by the making of Burton and Gielgud’s Hamlet.

Book The Motive and the Cue tickets here »

Johnny Flynn, Mark Gatiss and Tuppence Middleton reprise their roles as Richard Burton, John Gielgud and Elizabeth Taylor respectively. Full casting for the West End run is 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.

This fierce and funny new play offers a glimpse into the politics of a rehearsal room and the relationship between art and celebrity.

The Motive and the Cue was commissioned by Neal Street Productions and has been developed and co-produced by the National Theatre and Neal Street Productions.

The production has set design by Es Devlin, costume design by Katrina Lindsay, lighting design by Jon Clark, composition by Benjamin Kwasi Burrell, sound design by Paul Arditti, video design by Luke Halls, casting by Alastair Coomer CDG and Naomi Downham and associate director is Zoé Ford Burnett.

For more information and tickets, visit nationaltheatre.org.uk