'Mad King' Earns Standing Ovation After Cancellations
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- "The Mad King" held its first preview Tuesday at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-Upon-Avon after producers cancelled four shows and a July 25 preview citing "the additional time necessary to progress and refine the work in real time"
- Director Dominic Cooke told the audience before the show that the company hadn't yet run the entire production on stage in rehearsals due to running out of time, and warned the preview might need to be paused for technical hiccups
- The four-hour performance ran without unscheduled stops and received a standing ovation; the RSC said early feedback praised the acting, sound, lighting, and puppetry
- The HBO/Royal Shakespeare Company co-production, formally titled "George R. R. Martin's Game Of Thrones: The Mad King," is set before the events of HBO's "Game of Thrones" series
- Audience members singled out the puppetry as the standout element, with one attendee calling the dragon and horse designs "so lifelike"
- The RSC added a handful of extra performances to offset the cancelled dates, but few tickets remain for the rest of the two-month run ahead of the play's Aug. 8 official opening
Why it matters: After a week of publicized cancellations — which left ticket-holders who had traveled from as far as Canada disappointed — the first preview restored confidence in the production. With the two-month run nearly sold out and only a handful of extra performances added, fans who missed opening week now have almost no chance to see the show before its Aug. 8 official opening.
