The Motive and the Cue

by Jack Thorne

Richard Burton, the firebrand Welsh actor, newly married to movie star Elizabeth Taylor, is to play the title role in an experimental new production of Hamlet under the exacting direction of John Gielgud. But as rehearsals progress, the collaboration between actor and director soon threatens to unravel. One of them is the most famous movie star in the world; the other, a patrician from an earlier age of theatre. The stage is set for two titans to collide. Jack Thorne's The Motive and the Cue is a fierce, funny play which offers a glimpse into the politics of a rehearsal room and the relationship between art and celebrity. Commissioned and co-produced by Neal Street Productions, it opened at the National Theatre, London, in May 2023, directed by Sam Mendes and featuring Johnny Flynn as Burton, Mark Gatiss as Gielgud and Tuppence Middleton as Taylor.

Genres: Plays, Theatre

104 pages, Paperback

Published September 24, 2024

About the author

Jack Thorne (born 6 December 1978) is an English screenwriter and playwright.

Born in Bristol, England, he has written for radio, theatre and film, most notably on the TV shows Skins, Cast-offs, This Is England '86, This Is England '88, This Is England '90, The Fades, The Last Panthers and the feature film The Scouting Book for Boys. He currently lives in London.

Reviews

[Doug · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5, rounded down.

Bio-plays are dangerous undertakings, and one has to admire the chutzpah of Thorne in tackling this particular subject matter - the clash between theatrical titans Burton and Gielgud during rehearsals for what would prove to be a definitive Hamlet of the '60s. Relying on two tell-all tomes by members of the cast, Thorne seems to hit all the highlights, while simultaneously bringing a sharp eye to the psychological underpinnings of the scrapes between the two. Liz Taylor makes a few welcome cameos, but one often wishes there were more of her - and less full scenes from the Shakespeare play itself - Burton does all of the Dane's major speeches ('To be or not to be', 'Oh, what a rogue and peasant slave' and 'Speech the speech, I pray you') in their entirety - when snippets would certainly have sufficed. Not sure how widespread the appeal of this would be (although the National's premiere seems to be THE hot ticket at the moment), but for theatre practitioners, it is all quite delicious.


https://www.theguardian.com/stage/202...
https://www.tatler.com/article/the-mo...
https://www.msn.com/en-us/entertainme....

[Callum Morris-Horne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having taught ‘Hamlet’ for the last academic year, I thought reading this would be an appropriate curtain fall. The title of this play is taken from Hamlet’s ‘O, What a Rogue and Peasant Slave Am I’ soliloquy, wherein he asks how a player, an actor, can feign passion whilst performing a role, but he himself cannot bring himself to avenge his father’s murder, despite having sufficient “motive and cue” to do so. The play itself contemplates the fraught theatrical collaboration between director Sir John Gielgud and actor Richard Burton as he gears up to play Shakespeare’s procrastinating Prince in a new production staged in the style of a dress rehearsal. But it’s also interspersed with diverting asides starring passionate interplays between newly-weds Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, at the height of their respective fame—the Player King and Queen, perhaps? In this way, Thorne’s drama fuses ‘Hamlet’—one of, if not, Shakespeare’s most metatheatrical plays—with a metatheatrical examination of the relationship between art and celebrity (it’s a play…about rehearsal room conflict…rehearsing for a rehearsal-style version of ‘Hamlet’…which itself has been called a ‘permanent rehearsal’…arghh!); as it is, centred upon the titanic clash of two histrionic heavyweights who both have different interpretations of who ‘Hamlet’ is and how to do him.

[Jim Stiles · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a terrific play about the making of another play. Gielgud says in an important scene to Burton:

The motive and the cue. Hamlet’s own words. The motive is the spine of a role — the intellect and the reason — the sue is the passion — the inner switch which ignites the heart. We can color ourselves with limps and canes, with green umbrellas and purple suits, but we cannot escape the motive and the cue.

[Dominic H · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoy reading playtexts but of course they are not a completely reliable indication of how work will be received. In putting this play on, the National Theatre has pretty much spared no expense and it will be a surprise if the assembled talent doesn’t make something memorable of Jack Thorne’s play. But as a text is hugely problematic I think:
(1) It simply is not gripping as a study of a relationship, a creative endeavour, the rehearsal process. It’s stilted, meandering and poorly structured.
(2) Part of the problem is the dumping of whole episodes from the Sterne and especially the Redfield books (see further down my Books list) and expecting them to fly. Maybe the best/worst example is the Olivier ‘Titus Andronicus’ story. Why is it there? How does it progress things? How can it be so laboriously related that it’s not even mildly entertaining? Thorne mentions both books as an inspiration but actually the inclusion of scenes derived from them often feels like a dramatic millstone.
(3) There are gratuitous wholly fictional scenes which add nothing whatsoever - a Burton/Taylor scene in the First Act and I guess as some sort of refraction of that an encounter between Gielgud and a male sex worker in the Second. I was cringing as I read these.
(4) There is so much sentimentality present, particularly at the ends of each Act. The First ends with Gielgud alone apparently coming to life declaiming Hamlet’s speech to the players. If anyone can carry this off, Mark Gatiss will, but it’s a daunting and unnecessary challenge.
(5) I can’t believe I am writing this but there’s too much padding with scenes and speeches from ‘Hamlet’ for no reward or enlightenment. There is more ‘Hamlet’ here than in ‘Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead’ and the way Stoppard uses the play in comparison seems like the epitome of inspiration.
I could go on. I still hope to see the play. Maybe I’ll update this when I have.

[Jordan Muschler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although occasionally hard to get away from the fanfiction feel - especially in Elizabeth Taylor's scenes - the center element of this is relatable to anyone who has had a hard time directing an actor or being directed - which is to say if you've ever done a show, you'll probably relate. Both Burton & Gielgud are given depth, although Burton is the murkier role and therefore more attractive to watch. It is the kind of theatrical drama that might not stick with you but is fun as hell while you're there, not overly funny or interesting but undoubtedly relatable and complex enough to turn the pages.

[Ian McNair · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clashes in the rehearsal room. Hmm … a cynic might think, what else is new? Gielgud is really getting on Burton’s nerves and the tension is electric. Light relief is provided by Elizabeth who has some of the best lines.

[Bobby Sullivan · Rating 5 out of 5]

My goodness, what a ride. I don't usually care for plays about productions of plays, but this one is exceptional. I knew with two characters like Gielgud and and Burton that there would be fireworks, but wow. Loved it.

[Steve Mayer · Rating 4 out of 5]

More fun to read than it was to see, but then I was tired on my second day in England.

[Theodore Casimir-Lambert · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant ode to Hamlet, and to Burton’s timeless performance.

[Graham Spencer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful play from Jack Thorne, and a stunning text...

[Juana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading reading reading

[Marcus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable play that charts the real life clashes between Gielgud and Burton whilst rehearsing for a performance of Hamlet. A witty text and Gatiss et al perform it well.

“We can colour ourselves with limps and canes, with green umbrellas and purple suits, but we cannot escape the motive and the cue.”