The Motive and the Cue
a new play by Jack Thorne
A co-production with Neal Street Productions
Booking and details
Lyttelton Theatre
National Theatre
South Bank
London SE1 9PX
Sam Mendes directs a startling new play on the making of Burton and Gielgud’s Hamlet.
Why would the most famous movie star in the world choose to do a play which everyone already knows? And what lures us back to the same plays, year after year?
Richard Burton, newly married to Elizabeth Taylor, is to play the title role in an experimental new production of Hamlet under John Gielgud’s exacting direction.
But as rehearsals progress, two ages of theatre collide and the collaboration between actor and director soon threatens to unravel.
This fierce and funny new play by Jack Thorne offers a glimpse into the politics of a rehearsal room and the relationship between art and celebrity.
Sam Mendes directs Johnny Flynn as Burton, Mark Gatiss as Gielgud and Tuppence Middleton as Taylor.
The Motive and the Cue is inspired by Letters from an Actor by William Redfield and John Gielgud Directs Richard Burton in Hamlet by Richard L. Stern.
Performed 20 April — 15 July 2023 in the Lyttelton Theatre.
Reviews
Suitability
Please note this production contains strong language and adult themes, with some bright lighting.
Supporters
Supported by Mark Pigott KBE, KStJ, The Polonsky Foundation, Lawton W Fitt & James I McLaren Foundation, Dr Abe Peled, Monica Gerard-Sharp and Ali Wambold and Rosetrees Trust.
This play is a recipient of an Edgerton Foundation New Plays Award.
This production is supported by the National Theatre’s Official Hotel Partner Edwardian Hotels.
Gallery
Production images
Rehearsal images
Cast
Aaron Anthony
For the National: The Motive and the Cue
Tom Babbage
Mick Burrows (Stage Manager) + Understudy Dillon Evans / Frederick Young / Clement Fowler / Robert Milli
Tom Babbage
For the National: The Motive and the Cue
Allan Corduner
For the National: The Motive and the Cue, Two Thousand Years and The Beaux’ Stratagem.
Janie Dee
For the National: The Motive and the Cue, Follies (Olivier nomination), Women of Troy, Johnny on a Spot and Carousel (Olivier Award).
Elena Delia
For the National: The Motive and the Cue
Ryan Ellsworth
For the National Theatre: The Grapes of Wrath and The Motive at the Cue (also Noël Coward)
Mark Extance
For the National: The Motive and the Cue, Downstate, Three Days in the Country, Scenes from an Execution, Travelling Light and London Assurance
Johnny Flynn
For the National: The Motive and the Cue
Mark Gatiss
For the National: The Motive and the Cue, Three Days in the Country and Season’s Greetings.
Phoebe Horn
For the National: The Motive and the Cue and Much Ado About Nothing
Aysha Kala
For the National: The Motive and the Cue and The Welkin
Tuppence Middleton
For the National: The Motive and the Cue
Luke Norris
For the National: The Normal Heart, Antigone, The Kitchen, The Habit of Art and War Horse (also in the West End).
Huw Parmenter
For the National: The Motive and the Cue and Jekyll and Hyde
David Ricardo-Pearce
For the National: The Motive and the Cue and Saint Joan
David Tarkenter
For the National: The Motive and the Cue and Red Barn
Kate Tydman
Christine Cooper (Player Queen) + Understudy Elizabeth Taylor/ Eileen Herlie
Kate Tydman
For the National: The Motive and the Cue and Top Girls
Laurence Ubong Williams
For the National: The Motive and the Cue and The Welkin
Michael Walters
For the National: The Motive and the Cue
Production team
Writer
Jack Thorne
Jack Thorne
Director
Sam Mendes
Sam Mendes
Sam Mendes founded and ran the Donmar Warehouse in London for ten years.
Set Designer
Es Devlin
Es Devlin
For the National Theatre: Dear England (2025, 2023 and at Prince Edward), Coriolanus, The Motive and the Cue (also Noël Coward), The Lehman Trilogy (also West End, Broadway and on tour), The Crucible, Light Shining in Buckinghamshire and Ugly Lies the Bone
Costume Designer
Katrina Lindsay
Katrina Lindsay
Katrina Lindsay is an associate of the National Theatre and a member of the theatre design collective Scene/Change.
Lighting Designer
Jon Clark
Jon Clark
For the National Theatre: Dear England (2025, 2023, in the West End and UK tour), The Importance of Being Earnest, The Effect (also The Shed, NY), The Motive and the Cue (also West End), The Lehman Trilogy (also Broadway, West End and international tour), Manor, Absolute Hell, Amadeus, As You Like It, The Beaux Stratagem, Hamlet, Othello, The Effect (2012), Collaborators, A Woman Killed with Kindness, Greenland, Pains of Youth, Our Class, Damned by Despair, Women of Troy, The Cat in the Hat, Beauty and the Beast and Hansel and Gretel
Composer
Benjamin Kwasi Burrell
Benjamin Kwasi Burrell
Benjamin Kwasi Burrell is the Musical Director of the House and Garage Orchestra.
Sound Designer
Casting
Alastair Coomer CDG
Alastair Coomer CDG
For the National Theatre: over 50 productions including Alterations, The Importance of Being Earnest, The Other Place, The Grapes of Wrath, Mnemonic (2024), Nye (also Wales Millennium Centre), The House of Bernarda Alba, Othello, The Crucible (also West End), Blues for an Alabama Sky, The Ocean at the End of the Lane, Mosquitoes, This House, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, One Man, Two Guvnors and War Horse
Casting
Naomi Downham
Naomi Downham
For the National Theatre, as casting director: Alterations, A Tupperware of Ashes, The Grapes of Wrath, Underdog: The Other Other Brontë (also Northern Stage), The House of Bernarda Alba, The Crucible (also West End), The Ocean at the End of the Lane (UK tour), Hamlet (school tour) and Jekyll & Hyde (school tour)
Associate Director
Zoé Ford Burnett
Zoé Ford Burnett
Zoé Ford Burnett has worked as director and associate director on productions at the National Theatre, Royal Shakespeare Company, Donmar Warehouse, Shakespeare’s Globe, Arcola Theatre, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, Barbican, Broadway, West End and Los Angeles.
Associate Set Designer
Amalie White
Amalie White
Amalie White is a Design Director at Es Devlin Studio and has worked closely with Es Devlin since 2018.
Staff Director
Yasmin Hafesji
Yasmin Hafesji
For the National Theatre: London Tide and The Motive and the Cue
Archive Unboxed
Peter O'Toole in Hamlet, 1963
Read about Peter O’Toole’s performance of Hamlet at the National Theatre in 1963.
Spoiler alert: this article contains information about the Burton / Gielgud Hamlet that relates to the story of The Motive and the Cue.
Photo of Richard Burton and Sir John Gielgud by Leo Friedman