BAFTA award-winning actor Ralph Fiennes is to star at Oxford Playhouse when it reopens.

The actor appears in a world premiere staging of T.S.Eliot’s Four Quartets from June 14-26. The Playhouse is one of just four partner venues to host the production this summer.

Theatre co-director Louise Chantal said: “We can’t think of a better way to celebrate bringing live theatre back to audiences, and we’re very much hoping that some performances will be able to go ahead with full houses and no social distancing in place.

"Nobel Prize winner T.S. Eliot is one of the giants of modern literature. Compelling, moving and symphonic, Four Quartets was the culminating achievement of his career as a poet, offering four interwoven meditations on the nature of time, faith, and the quest for spiritual enlightenment.

"Mostly written before WWII when the closure of playhouses during the Blitz interrupted Eliot’s work in theatre, the Four Quartets – Burnt Norton, East Coker, The Dry Salvages and Little Gidding – contain some of the most exquisite and unforgettable reflections upon surviving periods of national crisis."

Ralph Fiennes as Gareth Mallory in Skyfall. (PA)

Ralph Fiennes as Gareth Mallory in Skyfall. (PA)

She added: "We can’t wait to welcome audiences back to Oxford Playhouse for what we know will be a truly wonderful and memorable production."

Read more: A year after closure, Oxford's theatres are fighting for their survival

Four Quartets is also directed by Fiennes whose distinguished stage work is matched by performances in some of the greatest films of our time, including Schindler’s List, The English Patient, The Grand Budapest Hotel,The Constant Gardner, Skyfall and the Harry Potter series.

  • Tickets will go on sale at Oxford Playhouse on Monday to Oxford Playhouse Members and on Tuesday for general sale, with tickets priced from £10 available from oxfordplayhouse.com or 01865 305305.