George R.R. Martin is developing “Game of Thrones” into a Broadway play that takes place during one of the most epic events in Westeros’ history: The Great Tourney at Harrenhal.
The currently untitled stage production will be produced by Simon Painter and Tim Lawson in partnership with Kilburn Live. Martin is writing and adapting the play based on his “A Song of Ice & Fire” works alongside award-winning playwright Duncan MacMillan. Dominic Cooke is set to direct.
Here is the official description for the play, which is slated for a 2023 debut on Broadway, the West End and in Australia: Set during a pivotal moment in the history of the series, the play will for the first time take audiences deeper behind the scenes of a landmark franchise event that previously was shrouded in mystery. Featuring many of the most iconic and well-known characters from the series, the production will boast a story centered around love, vengeance, madness and the dangers of dealing in prophecy, in the process revealing secrets and lies that have only been hinted at until now.
“The seeds of war are often planted in times of peace,” Martin said in a statement Tuesday. “Few in Westeros knew the carnage to come when highborn and smallfolk alike gathered at Harrenhal to watch the finest knights of the realm compete in a great tourney, during the Year of the False Spring. It is a tourney oft referred during HBO’s ‘Game of Thrones,’ and in my novels, ‘A Song of Ice & Fire’… and now, at last, we can tell the whole story… on the stage. An amazing team has been assembled to tell the tale, starting with producers Simon Painter, Tim Lawson and Jonathan Sanford. Their knowledge and love of my world and characters has impressed me from the very first, and their plans for this production blew me away since the first time we met. Dominic Cooke, our director, is a former Artistic Director of London’s Royal Court Theatre, who brought Shakespeare’s dramas of the War of the Roses to television, and our playwright, Duncan Macmillan, has previously adapted George Orwell and Henrik Ibsen, among others. Working with them (back before the pandemic, when we could actually get together) has been a treat, and I am eager for our collaboration to resume. Our dream is to bring Westeros to Broadway, to the West End, to Australia… and eventually, to a stage near you. It ought to be spectacular.”
In addition to Painter and Lawson, Vince Gerardis and Jonathan Sanford will serve as executive producers on the “Game of Thrones” stage play.
The Hollywood Reporter first reported the news of Martin’s stage adaptation of his “A Song of Ice & Fire” series.