Borat actor Sacha Baron Cohen will star in a new play in London’s West End from Hollywood director Quentin Tarantino.

The Popinjay Cavalier, set in 1830s Europe, was announced earlier this year and is the first play to be written for stage by the US filmmaker, who is also set to direct.

Baron Cohen said he was “beyond delighted” to be working with Tarantino, saying: “When the best director in the world calls, you don’t ask questions.”

The director, best known for violent film classics Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs, has said he is “keen with anticipation to give the West End a great night out”.

The play is set to premiere in March next year, with tickets available from Monday.

The production was announced in March this year as a “rambunctious comedy of deception and disguise inspired by the grand swashbuckling epics of stage and screen”.

Baron Cohen, 54, is known for his self-created comic characters including infamous spoof wannabe gangster Ali G, Kazakh reporter Borat Sagdiyev, and Austrian fashionista Brüno Gehard.

He has won two Baftas and three Golden Globes, as well as being nominated for three Oscars and six Emmys.

The full cast for The Popinjay Cavalier is planned to be announced at a later date.

The play will be co-produced by Sony Pictures Entertainment, which distributed Tarantino’s most recent film Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood, and Sonia Friedman Productions, which has overseen hits like Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and Paddington the Musical.

The director has repeatedly spoken about planning to retire from movies after making 10 films.

He has made nine so far – he counts Kill Bill Volumes One and Two together – and has won two Oscars, for writing Pulp Fiction and Django Unchained.

Tarantino revealed his plan to stage a play last summer, telling 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 will premiere at the Phoenix Theatre on 18 March 2027, with tickets starting from £25.

The 63-year-old director lives in Tel Aviv with his Israeli wife, Daniella Pick, and their two children. He told the podcast last year that he would “more than likely move to England and bring my family with me” while working on the play.

Tarantino is also known for his forthright personality and made headlines at the end of last year for launching a stinging criticism of actor Paul Dano, as well as in March this year for a spat with Pulp Fiction actress Rosanna Arquette after she criticised the use of the N-word in the 1994 film.

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