THE GAME of Thrones first preview at the RSC in Stratford was cancelled with hours’ notice.
George R. R. Martin’s Game of Thrones: The Mad King had been due to begin preview performances at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre on Saturday evening (July 25) – but the show was cancelled at around 4pm that afternoon.
Set decades before the events of Martin’s globally loved fantasy series, The Mad King tells the story of Robert’s Rebellion, beginning with a fateful tourney within the dilapidated ruins of Harrenhal. It features a variety of characters never seen on page – or screen in the award-winning TV series.
The RSC notified all customers about the cancellation and released a statement saying: “The decision to cancel performances is always challenging and is only taken after careful consideration of all the options available. We recognise how disappointing this will be for audiences and we sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused.
“All audience members affected will be provided with a full and automatic refund including any fees paid.”
A further statement released later on Saturday elaborated: “While we always work hard to avoid disappointment through cancelling performances, owing to the ambitious and epic nature of this production and faced with a number of unforeseen delays, we require additional time to bring Game of Thrones: The Mad King to a public audience. The decision to cancel Saturday’s preview performance was only made after careful consideration of all options available.”
Set decades before the events of Martin’s globally loved fantasy series, The Mad King tells the story of Robert’s Rebellion, beginning with a fateful tourney within the dilapidated ruins of Harrenhal. It features a variety of characters never seen on page – or screen in the award-winning TV series.
The cast includes Michael Abubakar as Eddard Stark, Elizabeth Ayodele as Princess Elia Martell and Maxim Ays as Ser Jaime Lannister.
The RSC has confirmed that the show’s opening night on August 8, following the preview period, is still set to go ahead. A number of preview performances earlier last week were also cancelled, with the next preview set to take place on Tuesday (July 28).
The world premiere play is adapted by Duncan Macmillan and directed by Dominic Cooke. It will run at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre until September 5.
