National Theatre Live screens Sam Mendes' production of Jack Thorne's play about Richard Burton and John Gielgud, with Mark Gatiss and Johnny Flynn.
The Motive and the Cue comes to the Stephen Joseph Theatre on Thursday 18 February, as part of the National Theatre Live season. It's a recorded production rather than a live performance in the auditorium, so you'll be watching it on screen, filmed during a sold-out run at the National Theatre in London.
Written by Jack Thorne and designed by Es Devlin, the play won the Evening Standard award for best new play. It's set in 1964, with Richard Burton newly married to Elizabeth Taylor and about to play Hamlet under the direction of Sir John Gielgud. The whole thing is directed by Sam Mendes, and the two leads are Mark Gatiss as Gielgud and Johnny Flynn as Burton. It's a look at two of the biggest names in British theatre working together on one of the most famous roles in the world, and the friction that comes when a veteran director and a star at the height of his fame clash over how to do it.
Because it's a National Theatre Live screening, you're seeing the same performance that played to full houses in London, brought to Scarborough for a matinee. It's a good way to catch a West End production without having to make the trip, and since it's a recorded show, the timing is fixed rather than subject to the usual live theatre shifts.
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The screening is at 13:45 on Thursday 18 February, with tickets from £18.
