Player Kings
Unstoppable acting legend Ian McKellen and revered director Robert Icke join forces for this incredibly exciting new show, Icke’s own adaptation of Shakespeare’s ‘Henry IV’ Parts 1 and 2 starring 84-year-old Sir Ian in the great role of dissolute knight John Falstaff. It will be McKellen’s sixth play since turning 80, a remarkable workrate at any age, but his willingness to team up with auteur Icke to take on such a demanding role feels like some serious legacy-building. Human precedent suggests he’ll have to reign in the demanding lead roles at some point, but what a high point this would be to go out on if it were his final big stage part. We don’t know a huge amount about ‘The Player Kings’ beyond that: most mash-ups of the two plays tend to focus on the action-packed Part 1 more than the rambling Part 2. But Icke is renowned for mining new meaning out of classic texts, so who knows what route he’s going to take? Whatever the case, this looks like a shoo-in for one of the theatrical events of 2024, regardless of whether McKellen retires after or not.