True West, Vaudeville Theatre

The late, great Sam Shepard was master of the American Gothic. His murky, macho snapshots of the wild west are shot through with sensitivity and humour – and a sense of decline that feels all too pertinent in the Trump era. When the Pulitzer-winning playwright, actor, director and screenwriter died in the summer of 2017, obituaries mourned 'one of the most important and influential writers of his generation' and 'one of the visionaries of US theatre'.

This autumn, Shepard's 1980 play True West gets a starry revival at the West End's Vaudeville Theatre. Kit Harington and Johnny Flynn share the stage as a pair of estranged brothers who get sucked into a toxic spiral of sibling rivalry.

Harington plays Austin, an intellectual and ambitious playwright chasing the American dream, while Flynn is the wily, lawless Lee. As the brothers reunite after five years apart, their glaring differences trigger an increasingly intense psychological power play.

Having immortalised brooding Jon Snow for all seven series of Game of Thrones, Kit Harington has a legion of fans. They flocked to see his last West End stint (a rather under-powered production of Dr Faustus) and will no doubt be just as keen to see him play the suave but flawed Austin.

We're equally excited to see Johnny Flynn on stage again. Whether you know him as the singer/songwriter of folk band The Sussex Wit, hapless hero of Netflix hit Love Sick or the ambiguous predator in indie hit Beast, Flynn has an offbeat charm that translates easily on stage. He earned an Olivier nomination and proved a worthy foil for Mark Rylance in Jerusalem, and made for a menacing presence in 2015's superlative production of Hangmen.

True West will reunite Flynn with Hangmen director Matthew Dunster, who will bring his flair for bitter, ominous comedy to this new production.

We predict a fast-sell, so book promptly. Click here for tickets.