Overview
- The Royal Shakespeare Company officially opened Game of Thrones: The Mad King on August 8, 2026 at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon and the run continues through September 5, 2026.
- The play was adapted by Duncan Macmillan and directed by Dominic Cooke with a cast led by Michael Shaeffer as King Aerys II and includes actors playing Rhaegar, Lyanna, Ned Stark and Robert Baratheon.
- RSC canceled five early previews in July to allow extra time for fit-up, technical work and rehearsals because the production is large in scale with a four-hour running time and roughly three dozen cast members.
- Early reviews and audience reaction have been strongly positive, highlighting performances, the cross-shaped staging, large-scale puppetry for horses and a dragon, and a reimagined Iron Throne and godswood.
- Producers and press say transfers to London’s West End and possibly Broadway are being discussed if the Stratford run proves commercially successful, and the show marks the first major stage adaptation of George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire.