The play is being adapted by Duncan Macmillan, whose credits include People, Places, Things, and directed by Dominic Cooke, who will become artistic director of London’s Almeida Theatre later this year.
Outlining the show’s plot, the pair said: “A long winter has started to thaw and, for the first time in years, all the great houses come together for a tournament – destined to be the greatest of the age.
“It feels like a new dawn, full of hope and opportunity. But tournaments always have a darker purpose.”
Listing information for the show published by the RSC adds: “At a lavish banquet on the eve of a jousting tournament, lovers meet and revellers speculate about who will contend.
“But in the shadows, amid growing unease at the blood-thirsty actions of the realm’s merciless Mad King, dissenters from his inner circle anxiously advance a treasonous plot. Far away, the drums of battle sound.
“Family bonds, ancient prophecies, and the sacred line of succession will be tested in a dangerous campaign for power. Who will survive? Who will rise?”
Cooke and Macmillan described Martin’s storytelling as “Shakespearean in its scale and its themes – dynastic struggle, ambition, rebellion, madness, prophecy, ill-fated love.
“From the beginning, Shakespeare’s histories and tragedies have been our primary reference for the ambition of this production, so the RSC feels like a natural home.”
Martin warmly endorsed Macmillan’s adaptation, commenting: “Duncan’s masterful script honours the world completely.”