This summer, Game of Thrones veteran Kit Harington will star in a London production of Slave Play, the controversial play from writer Jeremy O. Harris which was nominated for a record 12 Tonys in 2021. The play was controversial upon its debut. It involves three interracial couples who undergo “Antebellum Sexual Performance Therapy” — basically role-playing as slaves and masters in the pre-Civil War south — to reinvigorate their relationships.
In addition to Harington, the Londo production also stars Fisayo Akinade, Aaron Heffernan, Olivia Washington, James Cusati-Moyer, Chalia La Tour, Annie McNamara and Irene Sofia Lucio.The new production is getting some buzz courtesy of The Sun, which cites an insider who says that the play will involve sex toys, kink, and full frontal nudity from Harington's character Jim.
There's a dance here involving balancing the play's sensitive, serious dramatic ambitions with the desire to sell tickets by dangling the prospect of celebrity nudity in front of audiences. Harris has said he doesn't want this production to become “the Jon Snow Experience,” and Harington has previously has previously told Candis Magazine that he's sometimes "not actually very comfortable with" being treated as a sex symbol heartthrob, although he understands that it "goes with the territory because I am a young male leading actor." And yet talk of Harington performing naked in the play probably will get more folks in the door, which will help the play get its message out to more people. It's a tricky business.
If you're interested in this new production of Slave Play — for whatever reason — it's running at the Noel Coward Theatre from June 29 through September 21.
I never planned to write a book. However after being told a thousand times that I MUST tell my story, here we are. I hope my silly words help bring home some who are lost. I see the early part of my life, as a child , trying to squeeze a round wooden block into a square hole.… pic.twitter.com/QS0ommPiO1
— Kristian Nairn (@KristianNairn) March 6, 2024
Kristian Nairn (Hodor) has written his autobiography: Beyond the Throne
As long as we're talking about Game of Thrones actors who have or may yet perform nude, Kristian Nairn — who played the gentle giant Hodor for five seasons of the HBO show — has written a autobiography! Beyond The Throne: Epic Journeys, Enduring Friendships and Surprising Tales is about Nairn's life growing up in Ireland during a period of sectarian violence known as the Troubles, coming of age as a gay man in Belfast and Lisburn, and becoming the performer many know from shows like Game of Thrones and Our Flag Means Death.
“I see the early part of my life, as a child, trying to squeeze a round wooden block into a square hole,” Nairn said in a statement shared by PEOPLE. “With time, I learned how to make myself fit into my own life and find my place in the world. If this book even helps one person, it was worth it.”
Beyond the Throne is published by Hachette Books. It comes out on September 24 and is available for preorder now.
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h/t Metro