Back in 2021, we learned that playwright Duncan Macmillan and director Dominic Cooke were working on a play about the Tourney at Harrenhal, the fateful event where Prince Rhaegar Targaryen named Lyanna Stark the Queen of Love and Beauty, even though he was married to Elia of Dorne at the time, and Lyanna betrothed to Robert Baratheon. Yep, it’s a Game of Thrones stage play, and it has my curiosity.
We haven’t heard much about the play since then, but we got an update the other day from none other than A Song of Ice and Fire author George R.R. Martin, who wrote about his visit to England on his Not A Blog:
"[O]ne of the meetings I had in London was with Dominick and Duncan, the director and scriptwriter of our own stage play, the one we have been working on for the past few years. Originally we were calling it HARRENHAL, but we have now settled on THE IRON THRONE as a title… until we think of something better. Regardless, things are coming well, I think, and we are hopeful of being able to open in late 2024. Maybe. But you never know. There’s still a lot of work to be done."
So there are two big pieces of information in there. First up, the title. Originally the play was called Harrenhal. Now it’s being called The Iron Throne. Martin doesn’t sound overly attached to either name. It sounds like these are working titles, not the final thing.
Personally, I like Harrenhal more than The Iron Throne. “The Iron Throne” sounds a little generic, and was also the title of the Game of Thrones series finale. Plus, the play is set at Harrenhal. The Iron Throne is leagues away in King’s Landing.
That said, I don’t really have a better title in mind. Winter Roses? The Queen of Love and Beauty? Feel free to brainstorm in the comments.
Martin also says they’re hoping to premiere the play in late 2024. Given Martin’s track record with deadlines, I wouldn’t put much stock in this, and even he sounds non-committal.
I would see a play about the Tourney at Harrenhal. I think that’s a great subject for a stage play set in the Game of Thrones universe. It’s involves a lot of characters in one place, it’s more or less self-contained, and it’s not something we’ve seen dramatized before onscreen. Hopefully we’ll get more news about The False Spring soon.
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