Quentin Tarantino is back... sigh

It is with some regret that Rats in a Sack must report that Quentin Tarantino – who, younger readers may not recall, was once a filmmaker of some repute – is back. With a play. In the West End. Which sounds terrible.

The foul-mouthed vinyl-botherer is to both write and direct what is being described as a “swashbuckling comedy” play set in 1830s Europe early next year. The Popinjay Cavalier – yes, really – will be “a rambunctious comedy of deception and disguise inspired by the grand swashbuckling epics of stage and screen”, says the announcement.

Tarantino had previously said he was working on a play explicitly to get away from film because audiences weren’t attentive enough for his over-long and increasingly unwatchable movies anymore (Rats in a Sack has paraphrased slightly here).

“Theatre you can’t do that, and yeah, they pay a lot of money,” he said last year. “But you can’t tape it. There is no cell phone. You own the audience for the duration of the play every night. It’s a great night out. It’s worth it for them. That’s fucking exciting.”

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Alas for Tarantino, the announcement came in the week he got into a very public spat with one of his former stars, Rosanna Arquette, who questioned his propensity to use the n-word in his films. Arquette starred in Pulp Fiction, which used it 20 times.

“Personally I am over the use of the n-word – I hate it. I cannot stand that [Tarantino] has been given a hall pass. It’s not art, it’s just racist and creepy,” she told The Times in an interview.

Tarantino has now hit back, writing in a statement: “I hope the publicity you’re getting from 132 different media outlets writing your name and printing your picture was worth disrespecting me and a film I remember quite clearly you were thrilled to be a part of?

“But after I gave you a job, and you took the money, to trash it for what I suspect is very cynical reasons shows a decided lack of class, no less honour.”

Just the sort of publicity the promoters of his new play were looking for, we’re sure…