Everything We Know About Quentin Tarantino's The Popinjay Cavalier

Quentin Tarantino’s first stage play has a title that sounds like it was pulled from an Errol Flynn poster: The Popinjay Cavalier. Billed as ‘a rambunctious comedy of deception and disguise,’ this production is swiftly becoming one of the most talked about West End premieres of 2027. Here’s everything we know about Tarantino’s first foray into theatre.

For nearly two decades, Quentin Tarantino has been one of cinema’s loudest, most self-assured voices. Now that he’s making his transition into theatre, audiences are no doubt curious about his West End debut, The Popinjay Cavalier.

Written and directed by Tarantino, the play is being described as ‘a rambunctious comedy of deception and disguise inspired by the grand swashbuckling epics of stage and screen.’ Details about the production are still under wraps as we inch closer to a West End world premiere, but here’s everything we know about The Popinjay Cavalier so far.

Book your tickets for The Popinjay Cavalier now

Quentin Tarantino speaks on stage at Comic Con, gesturing expressively while addressing the audience, with Comic Con logos in the background. — *Quentin Tarantino at San Diego Comic Con. Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons*

The Popinjay Cavalier will premiere at the Phoenix Theatre

It was announced earlier this week that The Popinjay Cavalier will have its world premiere at The Phoenix Theatre, in London’s West End. Previews begin 23 February 2027 and tickets are currently available until 13 June 2027.

The venue is no stranger to big-scale productions as it’s currently the home of Stranger Things: The First Shadow, the hit play based on the hit Netflix series. Previous productions include Bend It Like Beckham, Dirty Dancing and Come From Away. It’s a mid-sized venue in the West End that seats between 1,000 and 1,030 patrons.

Sacha Baron Cohen takes the lead

Sacha Baron Cohen will star as title character Rupert Sebastian Thomas Jr, in what is also his West End debut. As the actor put it, “Quentin called, I said yes before he even got to say his first ‘motherfxxxer’.

Baron Cohen is primarily known for his comedic roles, which strongly suggests that The Popinjay Cavalier plans to lean into the swashbuckling comedy of it all with gusto.

The creator of Ali G and Borat, Baron Cohen’s style leans more toward satire and character comedy, though he has starred in more conventional films as well. He played Abbie Hoffman in courtroom drama The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020) as well as Inspector Gustave Dasté in Martin Scorsese’s family adventure drama Hugo (2011).

No other casting has been announced at this time.

Sacha Baron Cohen smiling at the camera against a red background at an event. — Sacha Baron Cohen headshot. Image via Creative Commons

It’s inspired by old Hollywood

From the very beginning, The Popinjay Cavalier has been described as a great swashbuckling comedy. Deadline reported in March that it’s ‘inspired by the grand swashbuckling epics of stage and screen,’ while official material later added that the writings of George Bruce, Ernst Vajda and Jesse Lasky Jr also served as inspiration.

Looking at all three screenwriters offers some insight on what we may expect from Tarantino’s stage debut.

Jesse Lasky Jr. was known for his big-scale biblical spectacles, like Samson and Delilah (1949) and The Ten Commandments (1956).

Also in his repertoire? Sweeping sea adventure Reap the Wild Wind, which follows salvage operator Loxi Claiborne as she is caught in a love triangle between captain Jack Stuart and company lawyer Stephen Tolliver. Golden age actor John Wayne starred in the film.

George Bruce wrote mainly action and adventure films, including The Corsican Brothers (1941), The Fifth Musketeer (1977), and Kit Carson (1940), set in the old West. Meanwhile, Ernest Vajda was best known for romantic comedies and period dramas like The Love Parade (1929), The Merry Widow (1934), and Marie Antoinette (1938).

There will be plenty of theatrics

As the news of the official West End premiere made the rounds earlier this week, producer Tom Rothman, the chairman and chief executive of Sony Pictures Entertainment’s Motion Picture Group, shared some extra details about the production.

He commented that seeing the director ‘in a rehearsal room is extraordinary. His delight in working with actors, fencers, acrobats, musicians and our creative team is infectious, and there is such pleasure in hearing his delicious language come alive and discovering what his world can become on stage.’

The suggestion of fencers and acrobats certainly piques our interest! Take a closer look at the artwork for the show and you’ll spot a fencing duel on a roof.

It’s perhaps the biggest hint we’ve received so far about the spectacle preparing to take the stage at the Phoenix Theatre next year.

*Popinjay Cavalier artwork without text. Original artwork by poster artwork painted by James Paterson*

Popinjay on tour?

Tarantino is already thinking about what’s next for the play. In an interview with podcast The Church of Tarantino, the director shared he was indeed working on the play, before going on to suggest that if it does well in the West End, a tour is not outside the realms of possibility.

He’s also floating the idea of turning it into a film. Speaking at a panel for the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, Tarantino said that ‘If it’s a fiasco I probably won’t turn it into a movie. But if it’s a smash hit? It might be my last movie.‘