The Motive and the Cue by Jack Thorne moves across from the National Theatre to the Noel Coward Theatre for fifteen weeks. Where the play previously played to sell-out performances and it’s clear why after watching tonight’s performance.

Mark Gatiss plays Sir John Gielgud as he begins rehearsals in America directing Hamlet. The star of the show is the recently married Richard Burton (Johnny Flynn) to Elizabeth Taylor( Tuppence Middleton). The famous and sought-after Hollywood A list couple of their generation.

Flynn gives an outstanding performance as the late Richard Burton. Showing the prowess Burton held as an actor while highlighting the man behind the stage/screen. He could not have been easy to work or live with. Yet once on the stage, he performed the longest-running production of Hamlet ever on Broadway.

Although a bigger star than Burton, Taylor steps back to support her husband during the rehearsal period. Imprisoned in a hotel by the gathering crowds of fans outside the hotel. She explains that she is bored, yet never leaves his side. Taylor’s breakfast date with director Guilgud offers an insight into Burton’s past which has shaped his career. His earlier years were traumatic and a struggle yet his determination drove him to become a world-class actor.

Gatiss portrayal of actor and director Sir John Guilgud shows the patience and supporting side that Guilgud possessed. He wanted to understand his actors and in turn get the best performance he could from them, nurturing and finding out their personal “motive” for acting and bringing it to the stage. A skill in itself that is often unspoken about.

Director Sam Mendes captures the frailty of art and celebrity through this comedic and moving play. Especially Burton’s drunken behaviour in the rehearsal rooms. The arguments between Burton and Guilgud felt that the words were being said for the first time.

The Motive and the Cue takes the audience back to a part of Theatre history which deserves to be celebrated and remembered. As the stars of the stage shaped the Theatres of today. Guilgud’s legacy is deeply etched into the West End archives along with the Theatre named after him. Where better to stage this important and successful play than on the very stage Guilgud himself once performed Hamlet.

For more information on this production please click on the link below.

Five Stars

Photo Credit Mark Douet.

https://www.noelcowardtheatre.co.uk/whats-on/the-motive-and-the-cue