Quentin Tarantino’s first stage play will debut in London with Sacha Baron Cohen as star

LONDON (AP) — The latest project from Quentin Tarantino is a swashbuckling stage comedy featuring “Borat” star Sacha Baron Cohen.

Sony Pictures Entertainment and Sonia Friedman Productions announced Sunday that the Oscar-winning filmmaker’s first stage play, “The Popinjay Cavalier,” will open in London’s West End in March.

It’s set in 1830s Europe, and the producers call it “a rambunctious comedy of deception and disguise inspired by the grand swashbuckling epics of stage and screen.”

The play will be directed by Tarantino and marks the West End debut of Baron Cohen, creator of comic characters Borat and Ali G.

“When the best director in the world calls, you don’t ask questions,” Baron Cohen said.

“The Popinjay Cavalier” begins previews Feb. 23 and opens March 18 at London’s Phoenix Theatre.

Tarantino, best known for films including “Reservoir Dogs,” “Pulp Fiction” and “Inglourious Basterds,” hasn’t directed a feature film since “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood,” which came out in 2019.

He wrote the screenplay for a sequel, “The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth,” due for release in November. David Fincher is directing, with Brad Pitt returning in the title role of a former Hollywood stuntman.

Tarantino wrote a novelization of “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood” as well as one for the new film, which will be published Dec. 8 by Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins.