Don’t miss Sir Ian McKellen as Sir John Falstaff in Player Kings, an exciting new stage version of Shakespeare’s Henry IV: Parts 1 and 2 by celebrated director and adaptor Robert Icke. The play reigns at London’s Noël Coward Theatre for a strictly limited 11-week run — book Player Kings tickets on TodayTix now.
See the multi-award-winning McKellen rule over two great Shakespeare history plays, which together depict a turbulent time in a divided England where leadership is crumbling and war is on the horizon. King Henry IV despairs at his son Prince Hal’s self-indulgent lifestyle, drinking away his future in the inns of Eastcheap. Hal must learn how to be king – but does that mean leaving his friends, especially the hard-partying Falstaff, behind?
The theatrical event of the spring, Player Kings offers the rare opportunity to see one of Britain’s greatest actors take on one of Shakespeare’s most iconic and uproarious roles – an unforgettable mix of a scoundrel, hedonist, father figure, and myth-maker. Book tickets to Player Kings in London on TodayTix.
4 hours (including interval)
April 1st, 2024
June 22nd, 2024
Children under the age of 3 will not be admitted. Children under the age of 16 must be accompanied by and sat next to a ticketholder who is at least 18 years old.
Location: West End
Railway station: Charing Cross
Bus numbers: (Charing Cross) 24, 29, 176; (Strand) 6, 9, 11, 13, 15, 23, 87, 91, 139
Night bus numbers: (Charing Cross) 24, 176, N5, N20, N29, N41, N279; (Strand) 6, 23, 139, N9, N15, N11, N13, N21, N26, N44, N47, N87, N89, N91, N155, N343, N551
Car park: St Martin's Lane Hotel (1min)
Directions from tube: (2mins) Take Cranbourn Street away from Leicester Square until St Martin’s Lane, where you head right until you reach the theatre.
McKellen told BBC News, "I've resisted offers to play John Falstaff [but] Robert Icke's ingenious adaptation was irresistible."
Ian McKellen has played many Shakespearean roles, including Richard III, Coriolanus, and King Lear. His most recent Shakespeare performance was as Hamlet at Theatre Royal, Windsor in 2021. On screen, he is perhaps best known for playing Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. He is a six-time Olivier Award recipient and was Oscar-nominated for Gods and Monsters and The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring — not to mention that McKellen has been nominated for all major acting awards. He was knighted in 1991.
Known for his innovative stagings and adaptations of classic plays, Icke became the youngest recipient of an Olivier Award for Best Director for Oresteia in 2016, and he also received Evening Standard and Critics’ Circle Awards. He directed Andrew Scott as Hamlet in a production broadcast by the BBC, and which transferred to New York (with Alex Lawther taking over the lead role). More recently, he received an Evening Standard Theatre Award for The Doctor, which played at the Almeida Theatre, in the West End, on tour, and in Adelaide and New York.
Ian McKellen - 'one of the world's greatest actors' (Times) - plays Falstaff in a new version of Shakespeare’s Henry IV, adapted by the award-winning writer and director Robert Icke.
Player Kings is at the Noël Coward Theatre, which is located in London, United Kingdom, WC2N 4AU.
Player Kings runs for 4 hours (including interval).
Children under the age of 3 will not be admitted. Children under the age of 16 must be accompanied by and sat next to a ticketholder who is at least 18 years old.
Player Kings tickets are available on TodayTix. Get Player Kings tickets today.
Player Kings is by Robert Icke. He created the show by combining William Shakespeare's Henry IV: Parts 1 and 2.
Robert Icke directed Player Kings in addition to adapting it.
Player Kings is recommended for ages 10 and up, but the show is best suited for an adult audience.
Yes — the talents of the legendary Ian McKellen, who joins forces with an award-winning writer/director working from a time-honored classic, make Player Kings a guaranteed royal hit.
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