Sacha Baron Cohen will star in Quentin Tarantino's debut stage play, The Popinjay Cavalier, which opens at the Phoenix Theatre in London's West End on 18 March 2027. Tickets go on sale on Monday, and full casting will be announced later.
Tarantino, 63, best known for directing films such as Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, will also direct the production. He said he was "keen with anticipation to give the West End a great night out".
Baron Cohen, 54, famous for characters including Ali G, Borat and Brüno, said: "Quentin called, I said yes before he even got to say his first 'motherfucker'. When the best director in the world calls, you don't ask questions. I am beyond delighted that we will be losing our West End virginity together. I have made him promise not to be gentle."
Set in 1830s Europe, The Popinjay Cavalier is billed as a "rambunctious comedy of deception and disguise inspired by the grand swashbuckling epics of stage and screen". A popinjay is defined as "a vain, foppish or conceited person", while a cavalier is a cavalryman or courteous gentleman. The play draws inspiration from old Hollywood swashbuckler films and the writings of George Bruce, Ernst Vajda and Jesse Lasky Jr.
The production is a collaboration between Sony Pictures Entertainment and Sonia Friedman Productions. Tom Rothman, chairman and CEO of Sony's Motion Picture Group, and producer Sonia Friedman said: "It is a joy and an honour to be developing this play with Quentin – and obviously quite an adventure. How lucky we are that one of the great storytellers of our time has chosen to make his theatrical debut."
Tarantino, who won two Academy Awards, two Baftas and four Golden Globes, made his directorial debut in 1992 with Reservoir Dogs and won his first Oscar for Pulp Fiction. Baron Cohen has won two Baftas and three Golden Globes and has been nominated for three Oscars and six Emmys. This marks his first leading role in a major stage production.