Winter Is Coming to the stage…this summer
Share
A new stage play based on hit fantasy series Game of Thrones will open this summer in Stratford-upon-Avon, the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) has announced.
Titled ‘Game of Thrones: The Mad King’ and made in partnership with HBO, the play will be set ten years before the beginning of the A Song of Ice and Fire books.
It will tell an original story based on newly written material by author George RR Martin.
Announcing the play, Martin said he welcomed his series entering the world of theatre with “great enthusiasm and excitement"
Game of Thrones: The Mad King 👑
We’re announcing a sweeping new stage epic from the world of George R. R. Martin, written by Duncan Macmillan and directed by Dominic Cooke. pic.twitter.com/lQgYpTDyjh— The RSC (@TheRSC) February 18, 2026
He added it will be "thrilling to watch the events of this new play unfold in a live environment".
Tickets are set to go on sale this April ahead of a summer launch.
"For me, the RSC was the obvious choice when thinking about putting a Game of Thrones story on the stage," Martin continued.
"Shakespeare is the greatest name in English literature, and his plays have been a constant source of inspiration to me and my writing. Not only that, he faced similar challenges in how to put a battle on stage, so we are in good company.
"Theatre offers something unique. A place for mine and the audience's imagination to meet and hopefully create something magical."
Giving fans an insight into the play’s story, writer Duncan Macmillan and director Dominic Cooke said: "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."
A description by the RSC added: "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 blood-thirsty actions of the realm's merciless Mad King, dissenters from his inner circle anxiously advance a treasonous plot. Far away, the drums of battle sound.
"Family bonds, ancient prophecies, and the sacred line of succession will be tested in a dangerous campaign for power. Who will survive? Who will rise?"