National Theatre Live: The Motive and the Cue

Jack Thorne's play takes place almost entirely in one rehearsal room: the 1964 Broadway Hamlet directed by John Gielgud and starring Richard Burton. The fight on stage is a collision between two generations of acting. Gielgud is poetic, controlled, the last great custodian of the English theatrical line; Burton is instinctive, angry, drinking, and at that moment the most famous man alive. Thorne did not invent his material. The play draws on books by two actors who were in that production: William Redfield's Letters from an Actor and Richard L. Sterne's John Gielgud Directs Richard Burton in Hamlet. The tension in that room was genuinely documented. Sam Mendes directed. Mark Gatiss won an Olivier for his Gielgud, Johnny Flynn plays Burton and Tuppence Middleton plays Elizabeth Taylor. The production opened at the Lyttelton in April 2023, transferred to the West End and closed in March 2024. This filmed version was released on 21 March 2024. Who it is for: anyone interested in how theatre is actually made, and in how a director and a star wear each other down. Who it is not for: viewers who came to watch Hamlet. The play itself is barely performed; what you see is the pain of preparing for it.