‘Game of Thrones’ Prequel ‘The Mad King’ Lacks Theatrical Fire

Have we reached peak George R.R. Martin? As soon as I wonder if people are beginning to lose interest in the “Game of Thrones” supremo, along comes another TV show, if not another book any time soon, and fandom revives all over again. Even as Mr. Martin himself recently confessed to battling sadness and depression and wrote ruefully on his blog that “getting old is no fun,” there is another new project to immerse himself in, some further offering from the intricate world that he has created that he, and those around him, hope will drive millions to the world of Westeros.The latest project has originated, fittingly enough, at England’s Stratford-upon-Avon, home of both the Royal Shakespeare Company and, naturally, of William Shakespeare himself. Martin’s writing has always been steeped in Shakespearean intrigue and richness, as well as expansive humor and a keen interest in the inner workings of human minds.It must have seemed a no-brainer to premiere Duncan Macmillan’s prequel play, clunkily entitled “George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones: The Mad King” — more snappily referred to as “The Mad King” — here, before presumably hoped-for transfers to the West End and Broadway. Dominic Cooke’s hugely expensive production has a starry list of co-producers, including HBO, Warner Bros, and Len Blavatnik. Given there seems no reasonable hope of recouping their investment in this surprisingly brief run, everyone involved must be hoping for a long and lucrative afterlife.‘George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones: The Mad King.’ Via Johan PerssonUnfortunately, I am not sure that “The Mad King” is going to make the crossover between “Thrones” and general theater lovers, to say nothing of regular RSC patrons. The audience at the press matinee I attended was considerably younger and more tattooed than a regular RSC crowd tends to be; several were proudly wearing “Game of Thrones” hoodies and T-shirts. The show is undeniably spectacular and features several coups de théâtre that will probably be talked about for years to come, on a par with the helicopter from “Miss Saigon” or the chandelier from “The Phantom of the Opera.” Sadly, what Messrs. Macmillan, Cooke and Martin’s play lacks is a genuine sense of heart or engagement. It is painfully overlong, at three-and-three-quarter- hours, and strangely insubstantial. The overall impression is of visiting a restaurant, being given an endless series of appetizers and amuse-bouches, and then being turfed out before you can enjoy the main course.Mr. Martin’s hardcore fanbase will know the events of the play by repute long before they take their seats in the theater, but more casual “Thrones” fans may need much backstory in order to enjoy the evening, which is provided by the program giving you a family tree and an explanatory note. If you’re not remotely interested in “Game of Thrones” then I can’t see the appeal of the show.It is set a couple of decades or so before the main events of the books and TV show and focuses primarily, although not exclusively, on the insane and consequently tyrannical eponymous monarch, King Aerys II Targaryen, and the various attempts by characters either to humor him or, when that course of action fails, to overthrow him. Some of these will be familiar to anyone who watched the show — Ned Stark, Robert Baratheon and Ser Jaime Lannister all have substantial appearances, and there are more fleeting cameos from Cersei Lannister, her father Tywin and the master of intrigue Lord Varys — but there are also figures who have never appeared in “Thrones,” or its spin-offs “House of the Dragon” and “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms,” such as Stark’s sister Lyanna, Aerys’s tormented son Prince Rhaegar and, of course, King Aerys himself. The latter is played with a mixture of Lear-like raving and chilling bloodlust by theater veteran Michael Shaeffer, in one of the production’s best performances.Michael Shaeffer as King Aerys in ‘George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones: The Mad King.’ Via Johan PerssonBut this is not a showcase for actors, which is certainly not something that could be said of the television series. Instead the appeal lies in the spectacle, and on that front Cooke’s production delivers. Thanks to Chloe Lamford’s literally monumental set design, set within an iron arch that allows for appearances of everything from vast trees to the notorious Iron Throne, Jon Clark’s ceaselessly atmospheric lighting and Will Stuart’s pounding and cinematic score, there is a genuine sense of event, with a mise-en-scène that threatens to explode from the stage at any moment — your critic nearly had a lance in the eye at a crucial point early on.There is also some of the best puppeteering since “War Horse,” courtesy of Nick Barnes and Finn Caldwell, which allows characters to leap on horses, fight in tournaments and, perhaps unsurprisingly, to allow for fantastical sequences that will satisfy long-term fans of the more flamboyant excesses of the TV show.Yet for all the Shakespearean trappings — I counted references or straightforward borrowings from “Macbeth,” “Hamlet,” “King Lear,” “Richard III,” and the “Henry VI” plays before giving up — there is a structural thinness here that even a large cast and undoubtedly expensive behind-the-scenes work cannot conceal. I was disappointed that the wit and black humor of the novels and television series are almost entirely lacking — there’s no Tyrion Lannister here, and his irreverence missed – but there’s no sex, minimal swearing, save for Callum Woodhouse’s enjoyable earthy Robert Baratheon, and even the moments of bloodshed and violence feel strangely muted. One scene, in which Aerys arranges a suitably fiendish punishment for an enemy, should be a jaw-dropping moment of spectacle. Instead a character is simply lowered into an offstage pit. Clearly, something could not be made to happen.Callum Woodhouse as Robert Baratheon in ‘George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones: The Mad King.’ Via Johan PerssonThe greatest problem with “The Mad King” is that it thinks it’s aimed at an audience — “Thrones” fans and Shakespearean aficionados — whereas it struggles to offer the in-depth lore that the former crowd will expect or the literary sweep that the latter lot will be hoping for. Mr. Macmillan’s script is serviceable but seldom inspired, with a few groan-inducing allusions crowbarred in; someone makes reference to “a game of thrones” at one point, and there are constant callbacks to “a song of ice and fire” and some strange character lacunae. I was unable to work out, for instance, why Prince Rhaegar, who spends a substantial portion of the first half of the play agonizing over whether or not he should murder his father and end his reign of terror, should end up fighting on his behalf, save that Rhaegar does not play any part in the subsequent narrative, which gives you a good idea of his eventual fate.I would like to be more positive about “The Mad King.” It is a show conceived on a vast and heroic scale, and even if it doesn’t wholly work, it is broadly entertaining, at least until a tortuous and extended final half-hour that rivals Peter Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings: Return of the King” for false endings and an inability to bid farewell to its characters. But it says a lot about the show’s failings that I was never very invested in these characters’ fates. Moments that should be heartbreaking or stirring ended up arising the same mild interest in me as the selection of beers available during the intermission. And that is not what everyone involved here should have been hoping for.

‘Game of Thrones’ Prequel ‘The Mad King’ Lacks Theatrical Fire

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