Slave Play – Noel Coward Theatre

I'd have stuck up for him by saying he probably meant not casting untrained former members of noughties' girl bands, but he literally talked about casting people from the biggest tv show or film. Then casts Harington, lead of the biggest tv show of the last twenty years. 

In his defence, he was presumably thinking of paying big bucks for the biggest names, just to be able to push up ticket prices. It looks like that's not happening here. I always think it perverse when the actors who least need the cash hold out for high salaries and the largest possible font for their star turn in theatre. I assume it's down to ego, because they've heard what someone else was earning and can't accept less. Thankfully we still have a lot of very successful British actors who appear to enjoy doing stage work, and don't want to limit their options to the highest bidders.

Not using tv stars might work on Broadway, but successful British actors tend to do a mix of stage and screen before and after becoming famous, so insisting on using British actors that only do stage, or have not had much success beyond that needlessly limits your options above a certain age.