Shakespeare. Ibsen. O’Neill. Tarantino?
Throughout its storied history, the West End has played host to the greatest playwrights. Now, Quentin Tarantino, the director of classics like “Pulp Fiction” and “Inglourious Basterds,” is bringing his snappy dialogue, pop culture obsessions, and talent for mayhem to the London stage.
He will write and direct “The Popinjay Cavalier,” “a rambunctious comedy of deception and disguise inspired by the grand swashbuckling epics of stage and screen.” Or so the show notes go. Sacha Baron Cohen of “Borat” and “Bruno” fame has been tapped to star in the production, which will hold previews beginning Feb. 23, before officially opening on March 18.
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“I’m keen with anticipation to give the West End a great night out,” Tarantino said in a statement. Baron Cohen was more enthusiastic and profane. “Quentin called, I said yes before he even got to say his first ‘motherf — er.’ When the best director in the world calls, you don’t ask questions. I am beyond delighted that we will be losing our West End virginity together, I have made him promise not to be gentle.”
Sony Pictures Entertainment, which made Tarantino’s most recent film “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” is producing the film alongside Sonia Friedman, a West End mainstay whose credits include the Tony-winning revival of “Merrily We Roll Along” and “Stereophonic.”
If Tarantino succeeds in the theater he will join a handful of film directors, such as Elia Kazan and Mike Nichols, who moved seamlessly between the mediums. However, those men primarily directed other people’s scripts, not their own work. Tarantino’s been on stage before — starring in an ill-fated revival of “Wait Until Dark.”
Tarantino has been busy of late. He wrote the script for “The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth,” but is handing over directing duties to David Fincher for the “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” sequel. Having his West End debut on the horizon will also mean delaying Tarantino’s next film, which he has promised will be his final picture. So in the interest of cinema, here’s to a Broadway transfer!