Charlie Cox and Blake Harrison to Star in Elvis Heist Play

Charlie Cox and Blake Harrison will plot to steal the corpse of Elvis Presley on stage this winter.

They will lead the cast of The King's Ransom at the Donmar Warehouse. It is a world premiere, meaning this production is the first staging of the play anywhere. The piece is written by Stuart Slade.

Matthew Dunster will direct, taking charge of the staging of Slade's script. The run is booked from 5 December 2026 to 6 February 2027. That booking covers the Christmas and new year period and continues into February. WhatsOnStage reported the dates and the company on 2 October 2026.

The press night, the evening when critics are invited in to review, is set for 16 December. It comes 11 days after the first performance. That gap allows for previews, the early shows where a new play settles in front of an audience.

Cox will play Vince. Harrison will play Rusty. The two parts sit at the centre of the announced company.

Tom Fletcher will play Charlie. Christopher Short will play Elvis. The role of Martha will be played by Ruby Barker, Eira Kay and Trixie Willis, with all three names credited for the single part. Jenny Rainsford and Cherrelle Skeete will also appear in the cast, as listed by London Theatre. No roles have yet been announced for Rainsford and Skeete.

The story starts from one stark plan. A group attempts to take Presley's body and hold it for a million-dollar ransom. No further plot details have been released. The ransom figure is priced in dollars, as announced.

For fans, this means the key information is now in place. There is a title, a writer and a director. There are dates, a press night and a full list of names. What happens on stage between those dates is still to be revealed.

Further production details have not been made public in the announcement material so far. For now, the heist itself is the selling point. A dead icon. A demand for money. And a small cast to pull it off. The theatre has so far announced only these basics.