Fear ye not, Game Of Thrones-ers, for you’ll find no spoilers here!
The North Remembers, and so do we – tonight, we return to Westeros and Essos, as the utterly epic Game Of Thrones returns to our screens.
It’s been a long-lasting year’s wait for the seventh series of George R. R. Martin’s globally gigantic TV tales of dynasty, dragons and deception. But while the television series has been off our sets, there’ve certainly been no shortage of members of its hugely popular cast, both former and current, on our stages.
We’ve picked out a few notable theatrical appearances, both upcoming and past, from winter warriors, Waifs and wickedly Queens, below.
Upcoming appearances
Natalie Dormer in Venus In Fur
Natalie Dormer in After Miss Julie in 2012 (Photo: Richard Hubert-Smith)
Perhaps the highest profile of all the Game Of Thrones stars in London theatre shows later this year, Natalie Dormer’s adroitly manipulative portrayal of Margaery Tyrell should prove the perfect preparation for starring in the upcoming seduction two-hander Venus In Fur.
Appearing unannounced for an audition with director Thomas Novachek (played by David Oakes), her enigmatic actress Vanda Jordan is determined to land a part. The intoxicating dark comedy of desire and fantasy might well bring back more than a hint of the ingenious aspiring Queen at the Theatre Royal Haymarket.
You can book tickets to Venus In Fur here.
Gemma Whelan and Ian Gelder in the Queers monologue series at The Old Vic
Ian Gelder in Human Animals at the Royal Court (Photo: Helen Maybanks)
A fierce, courageous and cynical warrior and captain of the Black Wind, Gemma Whelan’s character Yara Greyjoy is power personified, a fighter of the finest calibre. Ian Gelder’s Kevan Lannister, meanwhile, perhaps proves slightly less of a leader, but nevertheless a sturdy and noble man – well, comparatively.
Later this month the duo will both be taking to The Old Vic stage as performers in the Queers monologue series, a selection of eight pieces curated by Mark Gatiss, which marks 50 years since the Sexual Offences Act of 1967 began the decriminalisation process for homosexuality between men. It’s a chance to see these two fine thespians performing the rawest form of theatre.
Michelle Fairley and Faye Marsay in Road at the Royal Court
Michelle Fairley in Splendour at the Donmar Warehouse (Photo: Johan Persson)
Michelle Fairley’s fierce Catelyn Stark and Faye Marsay’s callous Waif may never have met in Westeros, but their respective actresses will be well acquainted, with the duo both cast in the Royal Court’s revival of seminal social drama Road, which opens at the Royal Court Theatre later this month.
David Rintoul and Daniel Rabin in Hamlet
David Rintoul’s “Mad King” role may well have prepared him for witnessing the mental capitulation of a certain Danish monarch night after night, while Daniel Rabin’s brief appearance as Lord Blackmont in Season 4 suggests he knows a thing or two about aristocracy too.
You can find more information on Hamlet here.
And some you may have missed…
David Fynn in School Of Rock The Musical (2016-17)
David Fynn (Dewey Finn) & the kids from School Of Rock (Photo by Tristram Kenton)
A guest star in the second season, David Fynn’s soldier Rennick provided some temporary comic relief for audiences, before the brilliant actor went onto the hilarious role of Dewey Finn, teaching full houses the power of rock in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s guitar-slamming musical in an Olivier Award-nominated performance.
Conleth Hill in Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? (2017)
Conleth Hill in Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? (Photo: Johan Persson)
Conleth Hill’s skilled manipulator and eunuch Varys may well have unnerved audiences as much as those who went on to see him on-stage as the manipulative counterpart to Imelda Staunton earlier this year.
Charlotte Hope in Buried Child (2016)
Jeremy Irvine and Charlotte Hope in Buried Child at Trafalgar Studios (Photo: Johan Persson)
The cruel and sadistic Myranda was played perfectly by Hope, who later became embroiled in yet more unscrupulous family politics with Ed Harris in the recent West End revival of dark drama Buried Child.
Owen Teale in No Man’s Land (2016)
Owen Teale in No Man’s Land (Photo: Johan Persson)
Stage and screen star Teale’s imposing stature made him the perfect Alliser Thorne, Master-at-Arms as Castle Black and trainer of new recruits to the Night’s Watch, as well as a brilliantly menacing Briggs, assistant to Sir Patrick Stewart’s Hirst – and intimidator of Sir Ian McKellen’s Spooner – in Harold Pinter’s seminal power play last year.
Kit Harington in Doctor Faustus (2016)
Kit Harington in Doctor Faustus at the Duke of York’s Theatre (Photo: Marc Brenner)
You know nothing, Jon Snow… except, perhaps, for a few hours’ worth of lines, as the central character in Jamie Lloyd’s radical reimagination of Marlowe’s tale last year.
Kerry Ingram in Matilda The Musical (2011-12)
Kerry Ingram at the Olivier Awards 40th Anniversary Summer Party (Credit: David Jensen)
An Olivier Award winner as the eponymous schoolgirl with a brilliant hidden talent, Kerry went on to star as Princess Shireen Baratheon in the hit television series.
Iwan Rheon in Spring Awakening (2009)
Iwan Rheon in Spring Awakening at the Novello Theatre (Photo: Helen Maybanks)
For four seasons, Rheon played Game Of Thrones uber-baddie Ramsay Bolton, but before playing a torturer on the telly, he played a tortured soul on stage, as Moritz Stiefel in the 2009 production of Spring Awakening at the Lyric Hammersmith and Novello Theatres, claiming the Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical.