Sacha Baron Cohen takes the title role in The Popinjay Cavalier, the first play Quentin Tarantino has written for the stage. It opens at the Phoenix Theatre in March 2027, and tickets go on sale today.
The Popinjay Cavalier starts previews at the Phoenix Theatre on 23 February 2027. Press night is 18 March. Tarantino wrote it and directs it, and Baron Cohen plays the swashbuckling hero of the title. The production is from Sony Pictures Entertainment and Sonia Friedman Productions.
Tickets start at £25, and more than 16,000 seats across the run cost under £50. Anyone who signed up for priority access can book from 9am (BST) today. General sale opens at 12pm.
The play is a comedy of disguise and deception set in 1830s Europe. It draws on the grand swashbucklers of stage and screen, and in particular on old Hollywood: the production names the writing of George Bruce, Ernst Vajda and Jesse Lasky Jr. among its influences.
Tarantino kept his own statement short: “I’m keen with anticipation to give the West End a great night out.”
Baron Cohen said rather more: “Quentin called, I said yes before he even got to say his first ‘motherfxxxer’. When the best director in the world calls, you don’t 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.”
In a joint statement, Tom Rothman, Chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment’s Motion Picture Group, and Sonia Friedman said: “How lucky we are that one of the great storytellers of our time has chosen to make his theatrical debut.” They called their leading man “a fearless, brilliantly inventive actor with the wit, mischief and daring this role demands.”
The creative team is confirmed too. Tom Pye designs the set and costumes, with lighting by Natasha Chivers and sound by Ian Dickinson. Tim Phillips provides the music. Philip d’Orleans is fight director and Sam Lyon-Behan action co-ordinator. Casting is by Jim Carnahan, CSA, and Jack Bradfield is associate director. The rest of the company will be announced later.
Tarantino has two Oscars for Best Screenplay, for Pulp Fiction and Django Unchained, and his latest film is Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood. Baron Cohen, a three-time Academy Award nominee, is the creator of Ali G and Borat. His screen credits also include Sweeney Todd, Les Misérables, Hugo and The Trial of the Chicago 7.
A practical note for bookers: Baron Cohen will not appear from 30 March - 4 April, on 21 April and 28 April, or on 10-12 June 2027. After press night the play runs at 7pm on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, with 2pm matinees on Wednesdays and Fridays, and at 1.30pm and 6.30pm on Sundays. Age guidance is 14+.
The Popinjay Cavalier is booking until 13 June 2027 at the Phoenix Theatre on Charing Cross Road.
