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Game of Thrones’ newest cast revealed
The Royal Shakespeare Company has announced the cast of George R. R. Martin’s Game of Thrones: The Mad King, a new stage play opening next week in Stratford-upon-Avon. The production explores a previously unshown period of the franchise’s history and offers new portrayals of characters familiar from the television series.
Set about a decade before A Song of Ice and Fire and Game of Thrones, the play centres on a dinner banquet during the final years of King Aerys II Targaryen’s rule. Michael Shaeffer plays Aerys, with Noah Ritter as Rhaegar Targaryen, Harmony Rose-Brenner as Lyanna Stark and Callum Woodhouse as Robert Baratheon; it runs at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre from 8 August to 5 September.
In short
- RSC reveals cast for new Game of Thrones stage play
- The story predates the novels and television series
- Performances run in Stratford-upon-Avon until 5 September
Explained simply
Game of Thrones is a fantasy story set in the fictional land of Westeros, where powerful families compete for control of the Iron Throne. It began as George R. R. Martin’s novel series A Song of Ice and Fire and became a hugely popular television drama.
The new play is set before the events most viewers know, when the Targaryen family still ruled the Seven Kingdoms. King Aerys II, later known as the Mad King, was the father of Prince Rhaegar and was eventually overthrown in a rebellion led by Robert Baratheon.
Lyanna Stark was the sister of Ned Stark, a central figure in the television series, and her relationship with Rhaegar became important to the wider story. The period covered by the play helps explain the political tensions and family ties that shaped the conflict at the start of Game of Thrones.