What do you think?
Rate this book
The Motive and the Cue (NHB Modern Plays):
Best Play - Evening Standard Awards - 2023
1964: Richard Burton, the firebrand Welsh actor, newly married to movie star Elizabeth Taylor, is to play the title role in an experimental new production of Hamlet under the exacting direction of John Gielgud.
But as rehearsals progress, the collaboration between actor and director soon threatens to unravel. One of them is the most famous movie star in the world; the other, a patrician from an earlier age of theatre. The stage is set for two titans to collide.
Jack Thorne's The Motive and the Cue is a fierce, funny play which offers a glimpse into the politics of a rehearsal room and the relationship between art and celebrity. This edition was published alongside the West End transfer in 2023, following its world premiere at the National Theatre, London, earlier that year. Originally commissioned and co-produced by Neal Street Productions, it was directed by Sam Mendes, and starred Johnny Flynn as Burton, Mark Gatiss as Gielgud and Tuppence Middleton as Taylor. It was named Best Play at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards in 2023.
'Marvellous� a quite wonderful new play� full of compassion, funny, witty and utterly compelling� This play is Thorne and Mendes's own love letter to the stage, full of both intellect and passion, clever and profoundly moving' - WhatsOnStage
'Enjoyable and hugely adroit' - Evening Standard
'Witty, deft, and touching� a palpable hit' - Telegraph
'Magical� deeply affecting� not just a heartfelt plea for the power of theatre, but a moving, often very funny, story about two generations teasing and provoking one another' - Independent
'Fascinating� a dual of egos in which not just the play, but the two men's sense of their selves is at stake' - The Stage
1964: Richard Burton, the firebrand Welsh actor, newly married to movie star Elizabeth Taylor, is to play the title role in an experimental new production of Hamlet under the exacting direction of John Gielgud.
But as rehearsals progress, the collaboration between actor and director soon threatens to unravel. One of them is the most famous movie star in the world; the other, a patrician from an earlier age of theatre. The stage is set for two titans to collide.
Jack Thorne's The Motive and the Cue is a fierce, funny play which offers a glimpse into the politics of a rehearsal room and the relationship between art and celebrity. This edition was published alongside the West End transfer in 2023, following its world premiere at the National Theatre, London, earlier that year. Originally commissioned and co-produced by Neal Street Productions, it was directed by Sam Mendes, and starred Johnny Flynn as Burton, Mark Gatiss as Gielgud and Tuppence Middleton as Taylor. It was named Best Play at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards in 2023.
'Marvellous� a quite wonderful new play� full of compassion, funny, witty and utterly compelling� This play is Thorne and Mendes's own love letter to the stage, full of both intellect and passion, clever and profoundly moving' - WhatsOnStage
'Enjoyable and hugely adroit' - Evening Standard
'Witty, deft, and touching� a palpable hit' - Telegraph
'Magical� deeply affecting� not just a heartfelt plea for the power of theatre, but a moving, often very funny, story about two generations teasing and provoking one another' - Independent
'Fascinating� a dual of egos in which not just the play, but the two men's sense of their selves is at stake' - The Stage
137 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 14, 2023
4 people are currently reading
9 people want to read
About the author
Jack Thorne
48Ìýbooks89ÌýfollowersJack Thorne (born 6 December 1978) is an English screenwriter and playwright.
Born in Bristol, England, he has written for radio, theatre and film, most notably on the TV shows Skins, Cast-offs, This Is England '86, This Is England '88, This Is England '90, The Fades, The Last Panthers and the feature film The Scouting Book for Boys. He currently lives in London.
Born in Bristol, England, he has written for radio, theatre and film, most notably on the TV shows Skins, Cast-offs, This Is England '86, This Is England '88, This Is England '90, The Fades, The Last Panthers and the feature film The Scouting Book for Boys. He currently lives in London.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
December 29, 2024
"But I know what it is to have people dance around me and, for once, I was happy to dance around you."
This is what it is to love live theatre, to love acting, and of course to love Elizabeth Taylor. I love this play. Reading it makes me feel the same emotional weight and windedness I felt when I watched it
This is what it is to love live theatre, to love acting, and of course to love Elizabeth Taylor. I love this play. Reading it makes me feel the same emotional weight and windedness I felt when I watched it
March 19, 2025
sir john, I love you. my shayla.
May 27, 2024
I really enjoyed this in the end. It set up the story well. Covered the time frame clearly and well. The characters were clearly written and I enjoyed the intricacies of the relationship between Gielgud and Burton and the arguments and resolutions were really interesting and the look at a great actor maybe struggling with directing. A fascinating look into the play creating process. The only thing I could maybe do with at the end which may have been in the programme instead is how the play ended up being received and the post show events.
February 13, 2024
A brilliant play. Saw it three times.
April 30, 2024
Fantastic. Loved this and it reads so well
January 29, 2025
For anyone who loves Hamlet and theatrecraft. I didn't know a lot of the actors in the play (the people not their characters), but I knew the main ones.
January 29, 2025
A love letter to theatre, to rehearsal, to the process. Brilliantly written and even more brilliantly performed by Mark Gatiss and Johnny Flynn on the West End in 2024.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
Can't find what you're looking for?
Get help and learn more about the design.