Game Of Thrones star Kit Harington will return to the West End in the summer to join the cast of Jeremy O’Harris’s acclaimed Slave Play.
The actor, 37, will star alongside several of the play’s original Broadway cast members when it opens at London’s Noel Coward Theater in June.
Slave Play, which examines race, identity and sexuality in 21st-century America and earned 12 nominations at the 74th Tony Awards, debuted on Broadway in 2019.
As it moves to the West End, the play will see a host of famous faces return to the stage, including Heartstopper’s Fisayo Akinade, Brassic actor Aaron Heffernan and Oscar-winning actor Denzel Washington’s daughter Olivia.
Although its cast includes several film actors, Euphoria producer and playwright Jeremy has said he is not a fan of celebrity casting as it can turn the theater into a “Disney World attraction.”
Game Of Thrones star Kit Harington is returning to the West End to join the cast of the acclaimed Slave Play (pictured March 14).
speaking to The Guardian In an interview published Tuesday, Jeremy said that hiring big-name film and television stars can mean audiences buy tickets solely to catch a glimpse of those stars in action.
“There are a lot of people doing theater now who think that commercial theater can only be done if you have someone who is on the biggest TV show or the biggest movie in history, with the marquee name as the reason.” to buy the ticket. I don’t believe in that.’
Jeremy, who wrote the play when he was just in his first year of theater school at Yale, added that focusing on the big names can detract from the story itself, and the play ends up being a “fun backstory.” to see your favorite celebrity. ‘.
However, the writer was “impressed” by star Kit after his Game of Thrones co-star Gwendoline Christie introduced him to him.
Jeremy made it clear that he wouldn’t cast Kit if he intended to make it the Jon Snow experience, however, he said the actor respected the fact that the play is an ensemble show.
“Kit was saying, ‘I don’t want to be Kit Harington in Slave Play. “This is an ensemble piece and I’m not even the lead,” Jeremy said.
“He knows the weight his name carries and how that could become a distraction, if we let it.”
Regarding the transfer, Jeremy said that this work has been a part of him for many years.
Playwright Jeremy O’Harris (seen in 2023) said that hiring big-name film and television stars can mean that audiences buy tickets solely to see those stars in action.
Slave Play, which examines race, identity, and sexuality in 21st-century America and earned 12 nominations at the 74th Tony Awards, debuted on Broadway in 2019 (view is the Broadway version)
He said it was a play written for his friends who felt neglected by the options available to them.
The play will mark another major West End role for Kit, after he last appeared on stage in 2022, when he took on the powerful title role in Shakespeare’s Henry V at the Donmar Warehouse.
Reviews of Kit’s Henry V said that he was “fierce, not too elegant, slightly dampening the great charismatic speeches, as if he wanted not to monopolize the attention.”
Kit described the King as a role he “always wanted to play” when he took on the task two years ago.
In an interview with The Evening Standard Kit explained: “If you had asked me what Shakespearean role you want to play, I would have said Henry V.”
The play will mark another big West End role for Kit, after he last appeared on stage in 2022, when he took on the powerful title role in Shakespeare’s Henry V at the Donmar Warehouse (pictured).
Kit (seen in the role in 2022) described the King as a role he “always wanted to play” when he took on the task two years ago.
Slave Play will debut in London for 12 weeks only, between June 29 and September 21.
Returning Broadway cast members include James Cusati-Moyer, Chalia La Tour, Annie McNamara and Irene Sofia Lucio reprising their roles, while Robert O’Hara will direct.
During its broadcast there will be two “blacked out” nights on July 17 and September 17 so that an exclusively black audience can watch “free from the white gaze”, a concept of Jeremy.
30 tickets will also be released every Wednesday priced at just £1, and 10 day tickets will be offered each morning for £20.
Tickets for Slave Play go on sale Wednesday.