UPDATED with official statements & dates: Producers of Quentin Tarantino‘s stage play The Popinjay Cavalier today confirmed what Deadline reported a month ago: Sacha Baron Cohen will star in the director’s first stage play, which will premiere on the West End next spring.
The venue and opening date were also revealed. Previews begin on February 23 and the production opens March 18 at London’s Phoenix Theatre.
According to an announcement on the play’s website, tickets go on sale tomorrow with priority access beginning at 9 a.m. BST and GP kicking off at 12 p.m. BST.
Baron Cohen who, like Tarantino, will make his West End debut with the project, said in a statement: “Quentin called, I said yes before he even got to say his first ‘motherfxxxer.’ 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.”
The remaining cast is yet to be revealed.
As reported by Deadline in March, the new stage play, produced by Sonia Friedman Productions and Sony Pictures Entertainment, will be a “swashbuckling comedy” set in 1830s Europe.
Tom Rothman, the chairman and chief executive of Sony Pictures Entertainment’s Motion Picture Group, and Friedman, said in a dual statement, “It is a joy and an honour to be developing this play with Quentin — and obviously quite an adventure. How lucky we are that one of the great storytellers of our time has chosen to make his theatrical debut.
“To see Quentin in action in a rehearsal room is extraordinary. His delight in working with actors, fencers, acrobats, musicians and our creative team is infectious, and there is such pleasure in hearing his delicious language come alive and discovering what his world can become on stage.
“And now we have Sacha Baron Cohen at the heart of it all: a fearless, brilliantly inventive actor with the wit, mischief and daring this role demands. We feel immensely fortunate to be producing this show. Audiences are in for a tremendous treat.”
PREVIOUSLY on September 10: Sacha Baron Cohen will star in an upcoming West End production of Quentin Tarantino’s stage play The Popinjay Cavalier, Deadline hears.
According to sources close to the project, Cohen will portray the title character when The Popinjay Cavalier lands at an as-yet-undisclosed West End venue in spring 2027.
As reported by Deadline in March, the new stage play, produced by Sonia Friedman Productions and Sony Pictures Entertainment, will be a “swashbuckling comedy” set in 1830s Europe.
The synopsis: “The Popinjay Cavalier is a rambunctious comedy of deception and disguise inspired by the grand swashbuckling epics of stage and screen. A sweeping celebration of theatre and its heightened romance, told with Tarantino’s signature style and unmistakable wit.”
Among Sonia Friedman Productions’ credits are Paddington: The Musical and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
Tarantino revealed last year that he was working on a play. At the time, he said: “The play is written. It is absolutely the next thing I’m going to do. We’ll start the ball rolling on it in January. … It’s probably going to take up a year and a half to two years of my life.”
Zac Ntim contributed to this report.