Game of Thrones star Kit Harington is joining Jeremy O. Harris’ Stage Play.
Deadline reports that Harington will star in the West End production of the Broadway play that caused outrage, controversy and led to Harris’ star rising in the theater stratosphere and beyond. For instance, Harris’ play was nominated for 12 Tony Awards in 2019, according to the outlet.
Hrrington will play Paul Alexander Nolan’s character Jim, who is in a troubled relationship with a Black woman. Their relationship is one of several people’s in the play, who decide to put their interracial relationships through Antebellum Sexual Performance Therapy. Within the world of the play, the fictional therapy utilizes re-enactments of slavery, including sexual stereotypes, to bring the spice back to the relationships.
If fans of the play have concerns about Harington’s casting being a buzzworthy marketing tactic, Harris told the Guardian this is not the case.
“Kit was saying, ‘I don’t want this to be Kit Harington in Slave Play, this is an ensemble play and I’m not even the lead,’” Harris said Harington told him. “He knows the weight his name carries and how that could become a distraction, if we allowed it to be.”
The play also stars Fisayo Akinade, Aaron Hefferman, Oliva Washington, and original Broadway cast members James Cusati-Moyer, Chalia La Tour, Annie McNamara and Irene Sofie Lucio. The play is directed by Robert O’Hara, with performances at the Noël Coward Theatre starting June 29 and continuing until Sept. 21.