Tarantino to Make West End Debut with Sacha Baron Cohen

Quentin Tarantino will write and direct his first West End play, "The Popinjay Cavalier," starring Sacha Baron Cohen, with previews beginning Feb. 23 and an official opening on March 18 in London.

The director of "Pulp Fiction" and "Inglourious Basterds" is adapting his signature rapid-fire dialogue and pop-culture sensibility for the stage. The show notes describe the production as "a rambunctious comedy of deception and disguise inspired by the grand swashbuckling epics of stage and screen."

Baron Cohen, known for "Borat" and "Bruno," will take the lead role.

What did Tarantino and Baron Cohen say?

Tarantino kept his statement measured. "I'm keen with anticipation to give the West End a great night out," he said.

Baron Cohen did not. "Quentin called, I said yes before he even got to say his first 'motherf—er,'" the actor said in a statement. "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."

Who is producing the play?

Sony Pictures Entertainment, the studio behind Tarantino's most recent film "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood," will produce the play alongside Sonia Friedman. Friedman is a West End mainstay whose producing credits include the Tony-winning revival of "Merrily We Roll Along" and "Stereophonic."

Can Tarantino succeed in the theater?

The precedents are limited. Film directors such as Elia Kazan and Mike Nichols moved successfully between cinema and theater, but both primarily directed other writers' scripts rather than their own work.

Tarantino has stage experience of a sort: he starred in an ill-fated revival of "Wait Until Dark."

He is also unusually busy. He wrote the script for "The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth," the "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" sequel, but has handed directing duties to David Fincher. The West End debut means delaying Tarantino's next film — the one he has promised will be his final picture. A Broadway transfer, if it happens, would delay it further.