The Three Musketeers: The RSC's Wild New Take on the Swashbuckling Classic
Alexandre Dumas's The Three Musketeers gets a bold new RSC adaptation from Told by an Idiot, combining swashbuckling adventure with visual comedy.
Alexandre Dumas's The Three Musketeers is returning to the stage in a new Royal Shakespeare Company production that promises to put a distinctly theatrical spin on the classic adventure.
The story begins in 1625, when the young and ambitious D'Artagnan leaves home and travels to Paris hoping to become a Musketeer. Instead, he finds himself caught in a dangerous world of political intrigue, romance and violence surrounding the young King Louis XIII.
D'Artagnan soon meets Athos, Porthos and Aramis, the three Musketeers who become his closest allies. When his sweetheart Constance is abducted, he finds himself racing across streets and battlefields while trying to protect her and avoid the enemies who are targeting him.
D'Artagnan enters a world of political intrigue
The adventure places the young hero in the middle of a struggle involving the king, Cardinal Richelieu and the mysterious Milady. D'Artagnan's personal mission therefore becomes entangled with a much larger political battle.
The new production is being created with Told by an Idiot, whose trademark visual comedy will shape this version of Dumas's story. Paul Hunter adapts the novel, with the company promising a production full of energy, physical comedy and theatrical invention.
That approach makes the adaptation different from a straightforward period adventure. The familiar story of friendship, duels and political intrigue is being used as the foundation for a highly theatrical production designed to embrace the chaos and humour of the original adventure.
When is The Three Musketeers on?
The production runs at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon from 28 November 2026 to 9 January 2027.
It is being presented as the RSC's Christmas-season adventure, with the combination of Dumas's famous characters and Told by an Idiot's visual comedy giving the production a distinctly playful identity.
