Rejoice, theatre fans, Game of Thrones is coming to the stage. After years of development, news about the play is finally here, and we have a title and synopsis! The show, previously known as The Iron Throne, will be called Game of Thrones: The Mad King.
Adapted by Duncan Macmillan, directed by Dominic Cooke and executively produced by George R.R. Martin for the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), the stage play based on Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire novels is set to have its world premiere at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon in Summer 2026. After its initial run in Stratford, rumor has it that the show may move to London’s West End, perhaps at the Gillian Lynne Theatre.
Who will be the protagonists of the Game of Thrones stage play?
Set 16 years before the events of Game of Thrones, the play will center around the infamous tourney at Harrenhal, and its aftermath, which lit the spark for Robert’s Rebellion and the fall of House Targaryen. Initially the play was only supposed to cover the tourney, but in an interview with Deadline Macmillan declared that as he wrote, he “became convinced we had to extend the proposed timeframe and follow them through.” We don’t yet know if the play will follow the events of Robert’s Rebellion in full, but that is likely.
All the most important players are present at the tourney: Rhaegar Targaryen, heir to the Iron Throne and Prince of Dragonstone, his wife, Princess Elia Martell, her brother, Prince Oberyn Martell; from the north will descend Brandon, Eddard, Benjen and Lyanna Stark, and her betrothed Robert Baratheon will also be there; so will Varys, Ser Barristan Selmy, Jaime and Cersei Lannister. Other key players will include Ser Arthur Dayne and his sister Ashara. Somebody who was not expected also shows up, and gives the play its name: Aerys II Targaryen, the Mad King.
It's interesting how we will see many characters we know from the books (and the TV show) at much younger ages, but the absolute protagonists will be three people who died before the books started, that we’ve heard much about from various characters but have never met directly: Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen, whom Cooke has compared to Romeo & Juliet for their star-crossed lovers story. And, of course, the eponymous Mad King.
The tourney lasts ten days, but the most crucial events might be the appearance of the mystery knight known as Knight of the Laughing Tree who invokes the Mad King’s paranoia, the initiation of Jaime Lannister to the Kingsguard, and Prince Rhaegar naming Lyanna Stark his Queen of Love and Beauty.
Casting is still underway, and no names have been confirmed yet, although the UK certainly has plenty of talent to tap into. What are the odds that we’ll get a few actors who were part of a different Thrones-related project?
What will the Game of Thrones stage play be about?
The stage play will cover the Grand Tourney at Harrenhal and beyond. Let’s analyze the play’s synopsis.
'Enter the world before.
The play is set 16 years before the events of A Game of Thrones, when the Targaryen dynasty still ruled Westeros.
A long winter thaws in Harrenhal, and spring is promised.
281 AC is also known as the Year of the False Spring.
At a lavish banquet on the eve of a jousting tournament, lovers meet and revellers speculate about who will contend.
Nothing like a tournament to make blood run hot and spark love! More than one affair started at Harrenhal. Besides Rhaegar and Lyanna, this is where Lady Ashara Dayne met and danced with Brandon and Ned Stark and the crannogman Howland Reed. Plus, the melee and the jousts saw some legendary fights.
But in the shadows, amid growing unease at the blood-thirsty actions of the realm’s merciless Mad King, dissenters from his inner circle anxiously advance a treasonous plot. Far away, the drums of battle sound.
It is widely believed that the tourney at Harrenhal was called under the false pretense of celebrating the name day of Lord Whent’s daughter, but was really a cover for many great lords to meet far away from court and was probably paid for by Prince Rhaegar himself. We know from the books that Rhaegar was hesitant at the idea of deposing his paranoid father, but it’s likely he entertained the schemes. We know from Jaime that Rhaegar meant to call for a Great Council, supported by Lord Tywin Lannister, former Hand of the King to Aerys, who wanted to push Rhaegar onto the throne.
Family bonds, ancient prophecies, and the sacred line of succession will be tested in a dangerous campaign for power. Who will survive? Who will rise?
Prince Rhaegar was a married man at the time of the tourney and his wife, Princess Elia, had already given him a daughter, Princess Rhaenys, with another son on the way. A prophecy saying he must have three children leads him to pursue Lyanna. In publicly crowning the Stark daughter, many believe that Rhaegar dishonored his wife and children. The Rebellion that followed surely led to their untimely deaths. In running away with Rhaegar, Lyanna also breaks with her family and with her intended, Robert Baratheon.
'Wars aren’t won by those with most cause, but whose story’s best told.'
This looks like a quote from the play, and I am intrigued by who will pronounce the words. History is written by the winners, and Robert and the Lannisters made sure to villanize Rhaegar’s actions and paint themselves as the heroes, despite the horrible actions that they, too, committed.
When can you watch the Game of Thrones stage play?
Game of Thrones: The Mad King will have its world premiere at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon in Summer 2026.
Priority booking will go on sale from April 14 with public booking to be announced in April 2026. For early access, visit rsc.org.uk/join to become an RSC member. More information will be announced later in the year. Full details of the upcoming RSC season will be announced on February 26.
Final considerations
The play will finally reveal the untold story of the tourney and the Rebellion and it will, once and for all, set the record straight on Lyanna Stark’s choice to run away with Rhaegar, hopefully giving her the agency she deserves. One of the most enigmatic characters in A Song of Ice and Fire, Prince Rhaegar was melancholic, aloof, and a lover of books and prophecies who took it upon himself to learn the art of war, for it was expected of him. The general sentiment in the books is that nobody truly knew Rhaegar, so it will be exciting to finally meet him and see his personality transposed onto the stage. One of his closest friends, Ser Arthur Dayne, is also a fan-favorite character that people have been dying to meet, like his sister, the beautiful and mysterious Lady Ashara. I hope the play gives Princess Elia her own space and storyline beyond that of a spurned wife. Many readers believe that Elia, unable to have a third child, actually encouraged Rhaegar to seek love elsewhere and that Lyanna caught her eye at Harrenhal for her willful character. It would be lovely to have the two women share a bond and understanding.
There are also so many structural questions. Will there be a narrator? Perhaps someone who survives and lives to tell the story to their children? Howland Reed? So many possibilities. Where will the play end the story? How great would it be if the Battle of the Trident was the final scene, Rhaegar whispering a woman’s name as he dies, with a coda of Jon Snow’s birth at the Tower of Joy, or even Daenerys’s birth on Dragonstone?
The play will not be a musical, but one non-negotiable music scene I hope we get is one of Rhaegar singing and playing his harp at Harrenhal. Plus, a few dances — we need to see Ashara in action. A mummer’s farce? At least, George R.R. Martin assures us that there will be battles, in a statement accompanying the play's announcement.
“For me, the RSC was the obvious choice when thinking about putting a Game of Thrones story on the stage. Shakespeare is the greatest name in English literature, and his plays have been a constant source of inspiration to me and my writing. Not only that, he faced similar challenges in how to put a battle on stage, so we are in good company. It will be thrilling to watch the events of this new play unfold in a live environment. Duncan’s masterful script honours the world completely, and I am so excited for both fans of the series, and perhaps people who have never picked up one of my books, to experience this new story in a theatre.”
Personally, as a thespian and big fan of the characters in Harrenhal Tourney era, I’ve been waiting for this show for years. Knowing that the play is in the careful hands of the Royal Shakespeare Company, that development took years and that Martin approves of the play, gives me immense pleasure. I hope it’s everything we’ve been praying for and more.