Produced by Novel Theatre, Cool Hand Luke was adapted for the stage by Emma Reeves and will be directed by Novel's artistic director and co-founder, Andrew Loudon.

Warren will play Luke Jackson—the role created on screen by Paul Newman in the 1967 film adaptation of Pearce's novel—who becomes a symbol of hope for his fellow inmates at a Florida prison camp.

Cool Hand Luke, according to press notes, "is the hard-hitting story of a World War II veteran turned convict and rebel, whose unquenchable spirit and refusal to be broken by the system becomes part of his fellow convicts' mythology of survival. After a spell in a Florida prison camp where the conditions were brutal and included hard physical labor on the chain gang, Cool Hand Luke is a gripping and rousing theatrical experience that climaxes with the ultimate showdown between the system and the human spirit it seeks to control."

Warren has also been seen on stage as Katurian in Martin McDonagh's The Pillowman at the Curve Theatre in Leicester. The actor is best known for his TV role as Danny Blue in four series of the BBC1 series "Hustle," and is currently filming the second series of the Sky drama thriller "Mad Dogs."

Members of the production's creative team include designer Edward Lipscomb and lighting designer Matthew Eagland.

The Aldwych Theatre is located at WC2B 4DF
London. For more information and tickets, visit www.coolhandluke.co.uk.