Quentin Tarantino has written and directed a play, and it has a London theatre, an on-sale ticket line and a published calendar. The Popinjay Cavalier opens at the Phoenix Theatre in the West End with Sacha Baron Cohen in the leading role. Tickets went on sale on 12 October 2026, and the production's ticket page and the ticket agent's listing both start the run on 23 February 2027. Four pages now carry dates. They agree on when the run starts and disagree about what that first date is called.

What the 11 October announcement confirmed

The production site calls The Popinjay Cavalier the global premiere of "a swashbuckling new comedy written and directed by Quentin Tarantino and starring Sacha Baron Cohen". It describes the play as Tarantino's first, sets the story in 1830s Europe, and names Sonia Friedman Productions as producer, with Sony Pictures Entertainment in association.

Playbill reported the announcement on 11 October. Its account puts the first performances at the Phoenix Theatre on 23 February, ahead of an opening night on 18 March, and says tickets went on sale at 9am BST on 12 October after registration at PopinjayPlay.com, with general sales from noon BST the same day.

Cohen plays Rupert Sebastian Thomas Jr., described in the production's own summary as the world's greatest actor. Further casting is still to be announced, and Jim Carnahan is the casting director. Tom Pye designs sets and costumes, Natasha Chivers lighting and Ian Dickinson sound. Philip d'Orleans is fight director, Sam Lyon-Behan action coordinator, Tim Phillips wrote the music, and Jack Bradfield is associate director.

The production's summary stays with the setup. Rupert travels to Paris to perform for the Comédie-Française, says something ill-advised about the French, and finds his trip across the Channel turning dangerous. The production cites the screenwriting of George Bruce, Ernest Vajda and Jesse Lasky Jr. as an inspiration.

An unlettered script and quill sit before an empty red-curtained stage and an unlabeled map motif beneath the words 1830s EUROPE.
The production says the story is set in 1830s Europe and follows Rupert on a trip to Paris to perform for the Comédie-Française. The unlabeled map is decorative, not a historical-border or route map.

Where the published calendars disagree

The production's ticket page says tickets are now available "for performances from 23 February 2027". The ticket agent lists the run as "Tue 23 Feb - Sun 13 Jun 2027" and prints "Opening Night" over 23 February itself, with the line "Come and join us for our first performance". BroadwayWorld's report on 12 October says the play "will begin previews" on 23 February and will run "through June 13".

Playbill is the only one of the four that separates the two dates: first performance on 23 February, opening night on 18 March. The production's homepage adds a vaguer version and says only that the play opens at the Phoenix Theatre in "Spring 2027", which sits oddly with its own ticket page.

Running time is unresolved in the same way. The agent's listing gives 2 hours 40 minutes including an interval. The production's ticket page, answering the question "How long is the show?", says timings are to be confirmed.

The practical reading is that 23 February 2027 is the first performance and 13 June 2027 is the end of the window now on sale. Whether that first date counts as a preview or as opening night is a labelling disagreement between Playbill and the ticket agent rather than a disagreement about the date.

The dates Sacha Baron Cohen is not scheduled to appear

The production says it cannot guarantee the appearance of any particular artist, subject to illness, injury and statutory holiday entitlement. It then lists the performances Cohen is not scheduled to give: Monday 29 March to Sunday 4 April 2027, the evening show only on Wednesday 21 April 2027, Thursday 22 and Friday 23 April 2027, Wednesday 28 April 2027, and Thursday 10 June to Saturday 12 June 2027. The longest break runs a full week in the spring, and the last one ends the day before the closing date now on sale. No understudy or alternate is named on the pages.

Booking, age guidance and wheelchair access

Booking runs through the production site's link to the ticket agent, by telephone on 0333 009 6690, and in person at the Phoenix Theatre box office on Charing Cross Road, London WC2H 0JP. The production lists those box office hours as Monday to Saturday, 10:00 to 18:00.

The ticket agent describes its counter differently, and the two statements cover different things. The agent keeps two box office points, Phoenix Street and Charing Cross Road, and only one of them is open between 10:00 and 17:00. Sales and enquiries for future performances stop 90 minutes before showtime so that staff can deal with the performance in front of them.

E-tickets arrive 48 hours before the performance and not earlier.

The age recommendation is 14 and over, and the agent's listing adds trigger warnings for threat and violence.

Accessible seating is booked through the agent's access scheme, and the Phoenix's accessible entrance is on Flitcroft Street at the side of the building. From street level it gives step-free access to Row A of the Dress Circle on the high-numbers side, to Box C and to the accessible toilet. There is no on-site parking, and Phoenix Street in front of the main entrance works for drop-off. Free essential companion tickets require proof of eligibility, and the scheme is run by Nimbus Disability. The access line is 033 009 5399, open from 9am to 8pm Monday to Sunday, and there is a second booking number on 0800 912 6971.

Groups of 10 or more book separately, by request form or on 020 7206 1174. The agent's membership scheme offers priority booking, ringfenced seats and member pricing.

Tarantino's Broadway appearance and Cohen's stage debut

Playbill records that Tarantino appeared on Broadway as a performer in a 1998 revival of Frederick Knott's Wait Until Dark, and describes The Popinjay Cavalier as a production that "could become Tarantino's first major stage writing credit". Playbill does not say whether that 1998 run was his only Broadway credit. The production site and the ticket agent both call the play his first without qualification, and BroadwayWorld calls it his debut play.

Cohen built Ali G, Borat Sagdiyev, Brüno Gehard and Admiral General Aladeen on Da Ali G Show, and played Signor Adolfo Pirelli in the 2007 film version of Sweeney Todd, as Playbill notes. Playbill describes the leading role as his West End and professional stage debut; the production's own pages stop short of saying that.

The Phoenix Theatre opened in 1930 with the premiere of Noël Coward's Private Lives, with Coward in the cast. Leicester Square on the Piccadilly line is seven to ten minutes away on foot, and Tottenham Court Road, on the Central and Northern lines, about five.

What the ticket pages still do not publish

The production's ticket page gives no price, and the agent's booking calendar shows a seat map rather than a price list. Booking fees are also unspecified. Further casting is unannounced, including any understudy for the lead. Performance times are not published beyond the production's own day-by-day pattern, which runs Tuesday to Sunday with matinees on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday and no Monday performances. Nothing on the pages describes a transfer beyond London, and the 13 June closing date is now carried both by the agent's listing and by BroadwayWorld's report of 12 October.