Game of Thrones: The Mad King review – an action-packed saga of dry ice and fire

Royal Shakespeare theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon This prequel to the TV series has one joust after another, spectacular stagecraft and plenty of modern resonance During the RSC’s 65 years, numerous Lears have lost their minds and frequent Caesars been slaughtered by their courts. Now, though, a tyrant new to its stages faces both fates. He is King Aerys II Targaryen, ancestor of one warring bloodline in Game of Thrones, the dramatisation of George RR Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series of fa...

By Mark Lawson