Ashhar Alam/New Delhi

Royal Shakespeare Company has unveiled plans for the world premiere of “Game of Thrones: The Mad King,” a new stage prequel expanding the universe of Game of Thrones, according to Variety.

Adapted for theatre by Duncan Macmillan and directed by Dominic Cooke, the production will feature author George R. R. Martin as executive producer and creator. The play is set to debut this summer at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon.

Set more than a decade before the events of the television saga, the story unfolds at Harrenhal during a grand tournament that gathers the great houses of Westeros including Targaryen, Stark, Lannister, Baratheon and Martell. Beneath the pageantry, tensions simmer as factions plot against the increasingly feared “Mad King,” while the distant rumble of war looms.

Macmillan and Cooke describe the play as a moment of fragile hope in a realm emerging from a long winter, a gathering meant to celebrate renewal, yet shadowed by political intrigue and hidden agendas.

Reflecting on the adaptation, Martin said he originally envisioned the saga solely as a literary world. Its evolution from page to television and now to the stage has, he noted, opened new avenues for audiences to experience the story through live performance and shared imagination.

The production is being mounted in collaboration with a high-profile creative team, including producers Simon Painter, Tim Lawson and Mark Manuel, alongside Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures representing HBO, and Access Entertainment backers Sir Leonard Blavatnik and Danny Cohen.

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Macmillan is widely known for acclaimed works such as Lungs, People, Places and Things, and his stage adaptation of 1984. Cooke, recently appointed artistic director of London’s Almeida Theatre, previously led the Royal Court and has directed films including The Courier and On Chesil Beach.

With Westeros now heading to live theatre, the production marks a significant new chapter in the global storytelling journey of Martin’s epic fantasy world.