Sam Mendes directs Mark Gatiss and Johnny Flynn in fierce new play The Motive and the Cue – review
On paper, The Motive and the Cue sounds like it has all the makings of something truly incredible. Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Skyfall) directs an impressive cast including Mark Gatiss and Johnny Flynn, in a new play by Jack Thorne (whose Harry Potter and the Cursed Child has been a runaway success on both the West End and Broadway).
It’s a fierce and funny new drama concerning Sir John Gielgud’s 1964 Broadway production of Hamlet in which he cast Richard Burton in the lead role – at a time when Burton’s fame was going through the roof following his recent marriage to Elizabeth Taylor.
It’s an impressive production with a lot going for it. Perhaps unsurprisingly there’s a certain filmic quality to proceedings – the way that each new scene is created is far slicker than you would generally expect from a theatrical production and each set looks gorgeous.
The costuming is great, too – full of intricate details that allude to the period. The focus here, however, is the incredible story – a play-about-a-play, The Motive and the Cue tells the tale of the 1964 Broadway production of Hamlet, a stripped-back affair performed as though it were during the final dressed rehearsal, with nothing to distract from the celebrity casting of Richard Burton.
