About the Show

Sam Mendes directs the West End transfer of Jack Throne's play about Burton and Gielgud’s Hamlet.

Stage & screen superstar Richard Burton is set to play the titular role in an experimental version of Shakespeare's 'Hamlet' on Broadway, directed by the scrupulous Sir John Gielgud. As rehearsals progress, these two titans of the entertainment world clash, unveiling the tumultuous relationship between art and celebrity.

This play by Jack Thorne ('Harry Potter and the Cursed Child') offers a glimpse into the politics of the rehearsal room and stars Johnny Flynn ('Lovestruck') as Richard Burton, and Mark Gatiss ('Sherlock') as John Gielgud.

'The Motive and the Cue' transfers to the West End for a limited run after its World Premiere at the National Theatre in April 2023.

Academy Award®, Tony Award® and Golden Globe winner Sam Mendes directs this production, which is recommended for ages 12+.

Critic Reviews (11)

“Sam Mendes’s production is stylish in the way it matches Hollywood glamour with the intellectual rigours of the theatre docudrama-style: time is marked by projections of the days and relevant quotes from Hamlet...One thing is for sure: it’s a play that epitomises the epithet ‘A love letter to theatre’.”
Read more

"The Motive and the Cue is most effective is in showing...behind the scenes of a play."
Read more

“...Jack Thorne’s ‘The Motive and the Cue,’ is a rapier-witted and stirring love-letter to theatre, and to Hamlet, and to two of the play’s most notable 20th-century exponents – John Gielgud and Richard Burton”
Read more

“This Gielgud is – like the real man – often very funny. But it is the triumph of both play and performance that he is so much more than that. He becomes a symbol of human frailty and of resilience. In his belief in art, he becomes a beacon for life.”
Read more

Sam Mendes and Jack Thorne have together created a brilliant piece of theatre, certainly one that’s fascinating to anyone with an interest in the industry, but equally entertaining for anyone who loves a good story. Watching The Motive and the Cue, we should all be grateful that coin landed the way it did, because it shows us the happenings of the rehearsal room can be just as dramatic as anything happening on stage.
Read more

“The resulting shape of ‘The Motive and the Cue’ is both polished and full-blooded. It’s the grandeur and significance of Shakespeare laid bare. It’s history in the making: process and performance.”
Read more

“Jack Thorne’s ‘The Motive and the Cue’...its wider preoccupations with old age, change, and the perils of the new, make it a rewarding and sometimes even challenging evening.”
Read more

“Though it boasts a cast of 16, ‘The Motive and The Cue’ is a two-hander writ large, with multi-hyphenate folk singer and screen star Johnny Flynn taking on Burton’s charismatic, boozy bluster and Mark Gatiss launching himself into a condescending but sensitive Gielgud. Under the direction of Sam Mendes, both are sensational.”
Read more