Will the Westeros kings rule the NT?
THE National Theatre is considering recreating the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros for the stage. Executives are mulling over the idea of a stage adaptation of George R. R. Martin’s A Song Of Fire And Ice, the epic fantasy novels that formed the basis of TV phenomenon Game Of Thrones. Clearly, the National will need a cast of hundreds for such a project. There also needs to be room enough for dragons, not to mention the armies of the nine great houses (and the Army of the Dead!) jostling for position at the start of the saga that concerns the ruthless struggle to rule Westeros from the seat of the Iron Throne. At one point during the HBO drama, Queen Cersei of the House of Lannister tells rival Ned Stark: ‘When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die.’ Details of the production are sparse, but it is some time since the National generated a cash cow, and its leaders will be on the lookout for a new one. The NT still enjoys receiving its share of handsome royalties from War Horse, based on Michael Morpurgo’s book. Previous money spinners include The History Boys; One Man, Two Guvnors; Angels In America; and Dominic Cooke’s production of Stephen Sondheim’s Follies.
But it has been muddling along of late with hits few and far between. Small Island, directed by artistic chief Rufus Norris, has been a triumph — as was Jellyfish, which scooted over from the Bush in West London for a limited run in small NT playhouse the Dorfman.
I’m a fan of Githa Sowerby’s Rutherford And Son, with a marvellous cast led by Roger Allam and Justine Mitchell. But it was abandoned to its fate at the Lyttelton Theatre and it closes tomorrow.
Recently, three NT plays were to be found on the Play By Play ticket site where, for a small fee, folk get tickets to West End and off W.E. shows — it’s a cheap way of papering the house.
To give them some credit, the National has been trying hard to build up a more diverse audience. Perhaps, in a kingdom still riven over Brexit, it will take a bloodthirsty Game Of Thrones to bring in a truly national crowd.
An NT spokesperson emailed to say: ‘We currently have absolutely no plans for a Game Of Thrones production.’