National Theatre Live: The Motive and The Cue

National Theatre Live brings The Motive and The Cue to the Main Auditorium at Weymouth Pavilion on Thursday 18 February 2027, starting at 7:30pm. It's a cinema screening of the National Theatre's stage production, so you're seeing a recorded performance on the big screen rather than a live cast on stage.

Written by Jack Thorne and directed by Sam Mendes, the play is set in 1964 and centres on Richard Burton, newly married to Elizabeth Taylor, as he prepares to play the title role in an experimental new Broadway production of Hamlet. The rehearsals unfold around them, with Burton working under the exacting direction of Sir John Gielgud. It's a fierce and funny look at two of the 20th century's biggest theatrical names locked in a room together, and the production won an Olivier Award for its run.

Mark Gatiss plays Gielgud, and Johnny Flynn takes on the role of Burton. The play was filmed live during its sold-out London run in 2023 before being brought to the screen for Event Cinema audiences, so you're getting the full stage performance as it happened in the theatre. It's a three-hour screening, and it carries a 15 certificate, so keep that in mind if you're bringing anyone younger.

Tickets are £15, and the screening runs for three hours, starting at 7:30pm on Thursday 18 February at the Weymouth Pavilion Main Auditorium.