Sacha Baron Cohen to lead Tarantino’s first West End play

Sacha Baron Cohen will play the lead in "The Popinjay Cavalier," the first stage play by Quentin Tarantino, when it arrives in London's West End next year. Sony Pictures Entertainment and Sonia Friedman Productions announced the casting on Sunday, Oct. 11. Tarantino wrote the play and will direct it. Both men are making their West End debuts, and for Baron Cohen it is also his first professional stage role.independent+2

Previews start Feb. 23, 2027, at the Phoenix Theatre, with opening night on March 18. The run is currently booking until June 13. Tickets went on sale Monday, Oct. 12, at 9 a.m. for people who had signed up for priority access, with general sale opening at noon. Prices start at £25. The Sun reported that more than 16,000 tickets across the run will cost under £50. The rest of the cast will be announced later.hollywoodreporter+2

A swashbuckler set in the 1830s

The play is set in 1830s Europe. The producers call it "a rambunctious comedy of deception and disguise inspired by the grand swashbuckling epics of stage and screen." It draws on old Hollywood swashbucklers, including the writing of George Bruce, Ernst Vajda and Jesse Lasky Jr. The Sun reported that Baron Cohen plays Rupert Sebastian Thomas Jr., an actor on his way to perform at the Comédie-Française in Paris. His trip across the Channel turns dangerous after he makes some ill-judged remarks about the French.thesun+1

"Quentin called, I said yes before he even got to say his first 'motherf*,'" Baron Cohen said. "When the best director in the world calls, you don't ask questions". Tarantino said he was "keen with anticipation to give the West End a great night out".hollywoodreporter+1

Sony's film chief Tom Rothman and Sonia Friedman issued a joint statement. They called Baron Cohen "a fearless, brilliantly inventive actor with the wit, mischief and daring this role demands." They also praised Tarantino's "delight in working with actors, fencers, acrobats, musicians and our creative team". The creative team includes Tom Pye on set and costume design, Natasha Chivers on lighting, and fight director Philip d'Orleans.independent+1

A long-delayed pairing

The two nearly worked together once before. Baron Cohen was cast in Tarantino's "Django Unchained" (2012) but left the project to make "Les Misérables". Tarantino first talked about the play in 2025 on "The Church of Tarantino" podcast. He said it was "all written" and would take "a year and a half to two years of my life".theprint+1

Tarantino has not directed a feature film since "Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood" in 2019. He wrote the screenplay for a sequel, "The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth," which David Fincher is directing with Brad Pitt. That film is due out in November.apnews

His only earlier stage work was as an actor, in a 1998 Broadway revival of "Wait Until Dark". "If it's a flop, I'll be done very quickly," he said last year.playbill+1