{"id":17168,"date":"2026-07-25T22:06:02","date_gmt":"2026-07-25T17:06:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=17168"},"modified":"2026-07-25T22:06:02","modified_gmt":"2026-07-25T17:06:02","slug":"the-mad-king-uk-cancellations-spark-ticket-buyer-ire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=17168","title":{"rendered":"The Mad King&#8217; UK Cancellations Spark Ticket Buyer Ire"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div xmlns:default=\"https:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\">\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\tTicket holders for the UK stage production <em><a href=\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/tag\/game-of-thrones-the-mad-king\/\" id=\"auto-tag_game-of-thrones-the-mad-king\" data-tag=\"game-of-thrones-the-mad-king\">Game of Thrones: The Mad King<\/a> <\/em>are furious over the last-minute cancellation of a week\u2019s worth of preview performances at the <a href=\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/tag\/royal-shakespeare-theatre\/\" id=\"auto-tag_royal-shakespeare-theatre\" data-tag=\"royal-shakespeare-theatre\">Royal Shakespeare Theatre<\/a> in Stratford-upon-Avon.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\t\u201cHaving booked hotels and paid for travel this is absolutely unacceptable,\u201d writes a Reddit user <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/asoiaf\/comments\/1v6aqm0\/absolutely_fuming_at_the_rsc_spoiler_main\/\" target=\"_blank\">on the subreddit <\/a>\u201cAbsolutely Fuming at the RSC\u201d devoted to the latest development. \u201cThey are now offering us the chance to rebook, with 0 availability for the remaining run. What a fucking joke.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\tThe new play, officially titled <em>George R. R. Martin\u2019s Game of Thrones: The Mad King<\/em>, was to have begun preview performances July 20, with an opening date of August 8 and a closing on September 5. Stratford-upon-Avon is a two-hour drive from London.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\tBut after the <a href=\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/tag\/royal-shakespeare-company\/\" id=\"auto-tag_royal-shakespeare-company\" data-tag=\"royal-shakespeare-company\">Royal Shakespeare Company<\/a> canceled the first week of previews with no specific explanation given as to the cause, RSC sources told Variety Friday that the performance for tonight, July 25, remained on track.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\tBut that was yesterday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\tThis morning, the RSC posted an Instagram announcement stating that tonight\u2019s performance has been canceled as well.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\tThe announcement reads:<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\t\u201cWe have made the difficult decision to cancel the preview performance of <em>George R. R. Martin\u2019s Game of Thrones: The Mad King<\/em> this evening (Saturday 25 July at 7:15 pm).<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\t\u201cThe decision to cancel performances is always challenging and is only taken after careful consideration of all the options available. We recognise how disappointing this will be for audiences and we sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\t\u201cAll audience members affected will be provided with a full and automatic refund including any fees paid.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\tTicket buyers holding tickets for the canceled performances and hoping to re-book are apparently out of luck: The show\u2019s<a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/secure.rsc.org.uk\/events\/game-of-thrones-the-mad-king?startdate=2026-07-20&amp;enddate=2026-09-05&amp;_gl=1*21l2d7*_gcl_au*OTM0MjE5OTQ5LjE3ODQ5OTMzNjIuLS4tLjE3ODQ5OTMzNjIuMTc3NDU4MTg2MS4xNzg0OTkzMzYyLjE3ODQ5OTM0NDc.&amp;queueittoken=e_safetynetwaitingroom~ts_1784993640~ce_true~rt_safetynet~h_c9e3ec73734b18f8c846b526e6ec4fd92e958a2d28b95495ca05302ad284eea8\" target=\"_blank\"> ticket page <\/a>indicates that all performances through the September 5 closing date are sold out. <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\tOn the subreddit, commenters saying they have preview tickets were furious. \u201cWhen we booked the tickets originally, they did not say Preview Performances!,\u201d writes Reddit user MikeyButch17 today. \u201cThat\u2019s the most egregious thing. Also, they allowed us to rebook for tonight, after the person on the phone promised us the performance would go ahead regardless. What a joke!\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\t\u201cIn exactly the same position!,\u201d responded el_palmo42. \u201cJust checked into our hotel in Stratford and then received the email.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\tNo official word yet on whether other performances will be canceled. <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\t<em>The Mad King<\/em> is a stage prequel that, according to its official synopsis, is set in Harrenhal as a long winter begins to thaw. \u201cAt a lavish banquet on the eve of a jousting tournament,\u201d the synopsis reads, \u201clovers meet and revelers speculate about who will contend. But in the shadows, amid growing unease at the bloodthirsty actions of the realm\u2019s merciless Mad King, dissenters from his inner circle anxiously advance a treasonous plot. Far away, the drums of battle sound. Family bonds, ancient prophecies, and the sacred line of succession will be tested in a dangerous campaign for power. Who will survive? Who will rise?\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\tThe play is inspired by the \u201cRobert\u2019s Rebellion\u201d lore of Martin\u2019s sprawling book series, in which the married Prince Rhaegar Targaryen, son of the Mad King Aerys, falls in love with, and runs off with, Lyanna Stark. This leads to a rebellion led by Robert Baratheon, who is engaged to Lyanna. Successfully deposing the Mad King, The Rebellion leads to the downfall of House Targaryen.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto     \">\n\tWhen the production was announced, RSC Co-Artistic Directors Daniel Evans and Tamara Harvey described the staging as \u201ca theatrical spectacle\u201d that is \u201can ambitious and exhilarating collaboration.\u201d The creative team members are puppetry and movement designers Nick Barnes and Finn Caldwell (of Lume), set designer Chloe Lamford, costume designer Georgia McGuinness, lighting designer Jon Clark, composer Will Stuart and sound designer Tom Gibbons. Duncan Macmillan (<em>Every Brilliant Thing<\/em>) is the writer, and Dominic Cooke is directing.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-instagram wp-block-embed-instagram\"\/>\n<\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ticket holders for the UK stage production Game of Thrones: The Mad King are furious over the last-minute cancellation of a week\u2019s worth of preview performances at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon. \u201cHaving booked hotels and paid for travel this is absolutely unacceptable,\u201d writes a Reddit user on the subreddit \u201cAbsolutely Fuming at the&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17169,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/deadline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/2_play-hub-news-images_under-200kb.jpg?w=709","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17168","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pics-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17168","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17168"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17168\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/17169"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}