Sacha Baron Cohen to headline Quentin Tarantino West End play

The Popinjay Cavalier is based on swashbuckling movies and plays

By Louisa Walters October 13, 2026, 4:41 pm Edit

Features Editor Louisa Walters has been a lifestyle journalist for nearly 40 years with specific interest in food and travel with a Jewish angle. Her social media community The Restaurant Club is a hub for passionate foodies and Louisa has won many awards for her support of the independent restaurant industry.

Sacha Baron Cohen will headline Quentin Tarantino’s The Popinjay Cavalier when it premieres in London next year. The production marks the Hollywood director’s first play written for the stage, which he will also direct.

A popinjay is defined as “a vain, foppish or conceited person”, while a cavalier is a cavalryman or courteous gentleman.

Baron Cohen – best known for playing Borat says: “Quentin called, I said yes before he even got to say his first ‘motherf*****’. “When the best director in the world calls, you don’t ask questions. I am beyond delighted that we will be losing our West End virginity together. I have made him promise not to be gentle.”

Set in 1830s Europe, The Popinjay Cavalier has been billed as a “rambunctious comedy of deception and disguise inspired by the grand swashbuckling epics of stage and screen”. It was inspired by the classic swashbuckler genre of old Hollywood, including the writings of George Bruce, Ernst Vajda and Jesse Lasky Jr.

Tarantino, 63, is best known for films including Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction and Once Upon A Time In Hollywood. He says he is “keen with anticipation to give the West End a great night out”.

Sony Pictures Entertainment and Sonia Friedman Productions are producing the play. Tom Rothman, chairman and chief executive of Sony Pictures Entertainment’s Motion Picture Group, says: “It is a joy and an honour to be developing this play with Quentin – and obviously quite an adventure. How lucky we are that one of the great storytellers of our time has chosen to make his theatrical debut.

“To see Quentin in action in a rehearsal room is extraordinary. His delight in working with actors, fencers, acrobats, musicians and our creative team is infectious, and there is such pleasure in hearing his delicious language come alive and discovering what his world can become on stage.

“And now we have Sacha Baron Cohen at the heart of it all: a fearless, brilliantly inventive actor with the wit, mischief and daring this role demands. We feel immensely fortunate to be producing this show. Audiences are in for a tremendous treat.”

Tarantino made his directorial debut in 1992 with Reservoir Dogs, before co-writing, directing and starring in Pulp Fiction, which saw him pick up his first Oscar for best screenplay.

Baron Cohen is best known for creating and playing comic characters including Ali G, Borat Sagdiyev and Bruno Gehard.

The 54-year-old has won two Baftas and three Golden Globes, as well as being nominated for three Oscars and six Emmys.

Tarantino first revealed his plans to stage a play in 2025, saying on the Church of Tarantino podcast it was “all written”.

“It is absolutely the next thing I’m going to do. We’ll start the ball rolling on it in January. It’s probably going to take up a year and a half to two years of my life, if it’s a success, and I’ve got to do the tour version of it and all that,” he said.

“I’m preparing for it to be a success. If it’s a flop, I’ll be done very quickly.”

The Popinjay Cavalier opens at the Phoenix Theatre on 18 March 2027.