George RR Martin announces Game of Thrones play is in the works

Written and adapted by award-winning playwright Duncan MacMillan, the play has been created in collaboration with original author George R.R. Martin and will take place during the Year of the False Spring, a pivotal moment in the history of the series.

The play has been produced by Simon Painter, Tim Lawson and Jonathan Sanford while acclaimed director Dominic Cooke will helm the production, which is aiming for a 2023 premiere.

Although no cast has been announced at this stage, the play is set to feature a number of popular characters from the series and will reportedly reveal "secrets and lies that have only been hinted at until now".

Explaining that the series "ought to be spectacular", Martin said, "Few in Westeros knew the carnage to come when highborn and smallfolk alike gathered at Harrenhal to watch the finest knights of the realm compete in a great tourney, during the Year of the False Spring.

"It is a tourney oft referred during HBO's Game of Thrones, and in my novels, A Song of Ice & Fire... and now, at last, we can tell the whole story... on the stage."

He went on to praise the producers' knowledge of his worlds and outlined plans for the play to eventually open on Broadway, the West End, Australia and other locations around the world.

Writer MacMillian said, "I have such admiration for George’s world and his characters. His generosity and trust during this process has been incredible. Working on this play during lockdown has felt like a real privilege. I can’t wait until we can be back in a theatre to experience this together.”

And director Cooke said that he was "over the moon at being given the opportunity" to direct the play. He added, "One of George’s inspirations for the original books was Shakespeare’s history plays so the material lends itself naturally to the theatre. Duncan MacMillan and I are having a great time digging into the dynastic power struggles at the heart of George’s extraordinary imaginative world and he has been hugely generous and supportive towards both of us.”

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