The Motive and the Cue at Noël Coward Theatre

The year is 1964. Richard Burton has just married Elizabeth Taylor (creating a union of such explosive sexuality and drunken brawling that the whole world was pulled, enraptured, into the gravity of their debauched orbit) and they have arrived in New York for Burton to be directed by Sir John Gielgud as Hamlet. This is the setting for Jack Thorne’s play, which premiered at the National Theatre in the spring and transfers to the West End after its triumphant run.

The creation of the play does not go smoothly: Gielgud and Burton butt heads continually over direction and line readings. Insecurities and egos are chaotically stirred up. Mark Gatiss as Gielgud is the heart of the play, urbane, legendary and hilariously waspish at times, but also tenderly vulnerable. His delivery is a masterclass. Johnny Flynn captures Burton’s rugged mercuriality. It must be one of the hardest challenges for an actor to portray another actor, especially one as distinctive and legendary as Burton. The work he has put into getting Burton’s voice right is evident: not just the Welsh accent but the gravelly amplitude of it, trained by shouting to his mates across Welsh valleys, so Burton said. It was the best voice in the business and he wielded it well: for those inclined to hear all that voice could do, Burton reading the poetry of John Donne is as sexy and exciting as poetry can get. 

Taylor is always going to be a tough role and Tuppence Middleton does not have the same smoulder (but then, who does?) but she does have a certain sure-footed delivery. Thorne’s script is sharp and moving, with striking lines like “Words have to make sense; feelings don’t,” as Gielgud tells Burton at one point. He weaves quotes from Hamlet into it with assuredness and his love of words is obvious throughout. Sam Mendes’s direction means that the two hour 40 minute running time is played without a hitch or fluffed line and Es Devlin’s set comprises three rooms slotting into one another: a large rehearsal room becomes smaller rooms when needed; Burton and Taylor’s love nest of heart-coloured ombre walls and Gielgud’s small, simple office.

This is a play is about the incendiary, sometimes life-changing power of the best of theatre. People who go to the theatre will like plays about the theatre and Shakespeare, so its success is not a surprise. It’s a neat conceit that unspools into a genuinely moving climax as we see Burton approach his Broadway audience for the first time and the text tells us how much of a success it was. Every audience member was on their feet.

Jessica Wall
Images: Mark Douet

The Motive and the Cue is at Noël Coward Theatre from 9^th December until 24^th March 2024. For further information or to book visit the theatre’s website here.