The Motive and the Cue to transfer to the West End

The five-star new play The Motive and the Cue will transfer to the West End.

Directed by Sam Mendes, who recently won a Tony Award for his production of The Lehman Trilogy (which also first opened at the National), the play is is co-produced with Neal Street Productions (who also worked on Lehman).

It is set during the rehearsal period for John Gielgud’s landmark, Broadway production of Hamlet, led by a newly married Richard Burton in the title role. It is based on the memoirs of two members of the cast – William Redfield and Richard L Sterne. The show received five stars from WhatsOnStage during its initial run at the National.

Playing Burton is Johnny Flynn (True West), while Gielgud is to be played by Mark Gatiss (Sherlock) and Tuppence Middleton (the Downton Abbey movies) plays Burton’s famous wife Elizabeth Taylor.

Set design is by Es Devlin, while the costume designer is Katrina Lindsay, lighting designer is Jon Clark, composer is Benjamin Kwasi Burrell, sound designer is Paul Arditti, video designer is Luke Halls and casting is by Alastair Coomer CDG and Naomi Downham. The associate director is Zoé Ford Burnett.

The show will run at the Noël Coward Theatre from 9 December to 23 March 2024. Tickets go on sale on 30 June.