From Jan. 28 to Feb. 16, Nigel Havers, Roger Lloyd Pack and Barry Foster will return to the Whitehall Theatre to star in Yasmina Reza's hit play Art. These three actors appeared together in Art at the Whitehall quite recently in October 2001.

Nigel Havers is best known for the films "Empire of the Sun" and "Chariots of Fire" and first performed in Art at the Wyndham's Theatre in 1997. In February, he will be starring in the new BBC 2 comedy series "Manchild." Roger Lloyd Pack is best known as Trigger in "Only Fools and Horses." Barry Foster appeared in Hitchcock's 1972 film "Frenzy" and in the TV series "Smiley's People."

*

The original London production of Art opened at Wyndham's in 1996 and transferred to the Whitehall this autumn to make way for The Play What I Wrote. Art has been a huge success, winning playwright Yasima Reza an Olivier Award and an Evening Standard Award for Best Comedy.

Having caused a stir in London, Art transferred to Broadway where it went on to win both the Tony Award and the New York Critics Award for Best Play. The play was first produced in Paris, at the Comédie des Champs Elysées, in 1994. Sean Connery went to see this production and was so fond of it that he decided to back an English-language production. He and co-producer David Pugh asked the playwright Christopher Hampton to translate the script.

Art has made its name in many parts of the globe and has already been performed in Chicago, New York, Sydney, Los Angeles and Buenos Aires.

The current stars - Leigh Lawson, Simon Shepherd and Philip Frank - leave the show on Jan. 26 and move on to a national UK tour of the production.

—by Theatrenow