{"id":627843,"date":"2026-10-12T01:52:08","date_gmt":"2026-10-12T01:52:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/627843\/"},"modified":"2026-10-12T01:52:08","modified_gmt":"2026-10-12T01:52:08","slug":"sacha-baron-cohen-to-star-in-quentin-tarantinos-west-end-play-the-popinjay-cavalier-stage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/627843\/","title":{"rendered":"Sacha Baron Cohen to star in Quentin Tarantino\u2019s West End play The Popinjay Cavalier | Stage"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sacha Baron Cohen will headline Quentin Tarantino\u2019s play The Popinjay Cavalier<\/a> when it premieres on the West End in London in March 2027.<\/p>\n

The production marks the Hollywood director\u2019s first work written for the stage \u2013 which he will also direct.<\/p>\n

Premiering at the Phoenix theatre in London\u2019s West End<\/a> on 18 March 2027, tickets go on sale on Monday.<\/p>\n

Tarantino, 63, who is best known for films including Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction and Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, said he was \u201ckeen with anticipation to give the West End a great night out\u201d.<\/p>\n

A popinjay is defined as \u201ca vain, foppish or conceited person\u201d, while a cavalier is a cavalryman or courteous gentleman.<\/p>\n

Baron Cohen added: \u201cQuentin called, I said yes before he even got to say his first \u2018motherfucker\u2019. When the best director in the world calls, you don\u2019t ask questions. I am beyond delighted that we will be losing our West End virginity together. I have made him promise not to be gentle.\u201d<\/p>\n

Set in 1830s Europe, The Popinjay Cavalier has been billed as a \u201crambunctious comedy of deception and disguise inspired by the grand swashbuckling epics of stage and screen\u201d.<\/p>\n

It was inspired by the classic swashbuckler genre of old Hollywood, including the writings of George Bruce, Ernst Vajda and Jesse Lasky Jr.<\/p>\n

Full casting will be announced at a later date.<\/p>\n

Sony Pictures Entertainment and Sonia Friedman Productions are producing the play.<\/p>\n

Tom Rothman, the chairman and chief executive of Sony Pictures Entertainment\u2019s Motion Picture Group, and Friedman, said: \u201cIt is a joy and an honour to be developing this play with Quentin \u2013 and obviously quite an adventure. How lucky we are that one of the great storytellers of our time has chosen to make his theatrical debut.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo see Quentin in action in a rehearsal room is extraordinary. His delight in working with actors, fencers, acrobats, musicians and our creative team is infectious, and there is such pleasure in hearing his delicious language come alive and discovering what his world can become on stage.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd now we have Sacha Baron Cohen<\/a> at the heart of it all: a fearless, brilliantly inventive actor with the wit, mischief and daring this role demands. We feel immensely fortunate to be producing this show. Audiences are in for a tremendous treat.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tarantino made his directorial debut in 1992 with Reservoir Dogs, before co-writing, directing and acting in Pulp Fiction, which saw him pick up his first Oscar for best screenplay.<\/p>\n

He went on to direct Jackie Brown, Kill Bill Volume 1 and Volume 2, Death Proof, Inglourious Basterds, Django Unchained, The Hateful Eight, and Once Upon a Time \u2026 in Hollywood.<\/p>\n

Throughout his career he has won two Academy Awards, two Baftas and four Golden Globes. He has also been nominated for an Emmy and five Grammys.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile Baron Cohen is best known for creating and playing comic characters including Ali G, Borat Sagdiyev and Br\u00fcno Gehard.<\/p>\n

The 54-year-old has won two Baftas and three Golden Globes, as well as being nominated for three Oscars and six Emmys. He has not yet had a leading role in a major stage production. He trained with the French clown guru Philippe Gaulier.<\/p>\n

Tarantino first revealed his plans to stage a play in 2025, saying on the Church of Tarantino podcast it was \u201call written\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m preparing for it to be a success. If it\u2019s a flop, I\u2019ll be done very quickly,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Tickets for The Popinjay Cavalier are on sale from 9am BST on Monday to those who signed up for priority access, with a public sale from 12pm.<\/p>\n

Tickets start at \u00a325, with more than 16,000 tickets priced at under \u00a350 across the run.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sacha Baron Cohen will headline Quentin Tarantino\u2019s play The Popinjay Cavalier when it premieres on the West End…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":627844,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[430,156,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-627843","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627843","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=627843"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627843\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/627844"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=627843"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=627843"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=627843"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}