Park Theatre's revival of Mart Crowley's The Boys In The Band is to undertake a short tour following its London run.
The play stars Mark Gatiss with real-life husband Ian Hallard and is set at a birthday celebration amongst nine men in a New York apartment, the fun leading to heart-break as alcohol and dope take hold.
Mark Gatiss and Ian Hallard said, "we are thrilled to be a part of this production, which will bring this seminal gay play back to London for the first time in eighteen years. The script is razor sharp, with huge amounts of wit and pathos, and is as fresh, startling and relevant as it was back in 1968.
"It's tremendously exciting to be working with a superb creative and production team who are bringing the show to Park Theatre. And we can't wait to work together on stage for the first time."
Adam Penford directs The Boys In The Band which is produced by Tom O’Connell and James Seabright. The tour takes in The Lowry, Theatre Royal Brighton and West Yorkshire Playhouse. It runs at Park Theatre from 28 September to 30 October.
Mart Crowley's play forms part of the venue's autumn season which also includes four world premières, three UK premières, two European premières and a London première.
Joe Harmston directs Golden Globe winner Anne Archer in a new production of The Trial of Jane Fonda by Terry Jastrow which opened the season; later JB Priestley’s early comedy The Roundabout has a major revival and Deny, Deny Deny, which looks at doping in sport, marks the return of journalist and playwright Jonathan Maitland to Park Theatre.
Other premières include Peter Quilter's comedy set in '90s suburbia Saving Jason and a woman's fight to clear her husband’s name in The American Wife by Stephen Fife and Ralph Pezzullo.
The season ends with unconventional Christmas show, Screwtape Letters, adapted for the stage from C S Lewis's novel.
Two musicals will grace the stage of the smaller of the two spaces, The PARK90.
For the first time, PARK90 will play home to two musicals: The Burnt Part Boys is a coming-of-age tale from the US about youngsters living in the wake of a mining accident, which has a book by Mariana Elder, music by Chris Miller and lyrics by Nathan Tysen, and This Little Life of Mine, a new British musical set in London, written by Michael Yale.
The PARK90 season starts with Neil LaBute's black comedy Some Girl(s) (hear our interview with cast member Roxanne Pallett) with physical comedy LUV by Murray Schisgal as the season closer.
Also this autumn, Jonathan Maitland’s debut play, Dead Sheep, will tour following its record-breaking run at Park Theatre.
Steve Nallon reprises his role as Margaret Thatcher, Holby City's Paul Bradley will play Geoffrey Howe, Carol Royle will play Elspeth Howe, Graham Seed will play Ian Gow and Nigel Lawson, Tony Bell will play Bernard Ingham, Alan Clark and Dennis Thatcher and John Wark will play Stephen Wall and Brian Walden.
Jonathan Maitland said, "when I wrote Dead Sheep in 2014 I knew it would be resonant. But it now feels uncanny. Then, as now, it was a story of a government split over Europe, agonising conflicts of loyalty, and a fatal miscalculation by a seemingly impregnable Prime Minister.
"The timing couldn't be sweeter: especially since we're playing Birmingham in September, during the week of the Tory party conference. We're considering a special seating policy for that leg of the tour: Remainers in the circle, Leavers in the stalls..."
Directed by Ian Talbot OBE, Dead Sheep will tour from the start of September to end 28 November 2016.