Neal Street News

Neal Street Productions and the National Theatre to stage a new play by Jack Thorne, The Motive and the Cue, directed by Sam Mendes in Spring 2023.

A new play by Jack Thorne, The Motive and the Cue, directed by Sam Mendes will open in the Lyttelton theatre in Spring 2023. The production is a co-production with the National Theatre following the ongoing success of The Lehman Trilogy which Mendes also directed.

Originally commissioned by Neal Street, this fierce and funny new play is set during rehearsals for the acclaimed 1964 Broadway production of Hamlet, with Sir John Gielgud directing Richard Burton, newly married to Elizabeth Taylor, as Hamlet. Based on the memoirs of two members of the cast (William Redfield and Richard L Sterne), it explores the politics of a rehearsal room, the relevance of theatre in a world from which it can sometimes seem removed, and the relationship – and tension – between art and celebrity as two titans of British theatre grapple with a classic play.

Set Design by Es Devlin, Costume Design by Katrina Lindsay, Lighting Design by Jon Clark, Sound Design by Paul Arditti, with composition by Benjamin Kwasi Burrell.

Casting and dates to be announced.

 

28/07/23