Coming to the West End next year

Sacha Baron Cohen is reportedly due to star in Quentin Tarantino‘s stage play The Popinjay Cavalier on the West End stage.

The show – an 1840s-set farce inspired by the swashbuckling epics of stage and screen –  is due to open at an as-yet-undisclosed London venue in spring 2027.

Now authoritative entertainment industry website Deadline reports that the Ali G creator will take the lead role. 

The show is being produced by  Sonia Friedman, the impresario behind  Paddington: The Musical and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. 

In an interview in July she said: ‘I loved the script and I wasn’t expecting to… it’s very funny.  Because it’s Quentin, there’s a big nod to the 1930s movies like Zorro and The Count of Monte Cristo, but it’s also a homage to theatre and to actors.

Baron Cohen’s film Ali G: Who Iz I? is out on October 23 – and councillors in Staines have just rejected a proposal to erect a statue to their most famous fictional son.

Published: 10 Sep 2026