Janie Dee to star in The Niceties at Finborough Theatre

Janie Dee will star in the European premiere of Eleanor Burgess' off-Broadway hit The Niceties.

Olivier Award-winner Dee, known for her roles in Follies and Passion), will play a white professor who has a meeting with an ambitious young black student. She will be joined by Moronkẹ Akinola, who makes her professional stage debut in the show.

Dee said: "When I read The Niceties, I felt a blast of fear go through me. It affected me and it left me thinking. Eleanor has written a fresh, intelligent play which captures the voice and tone of today's university student and graduate generation so precisely.

The piece plays for a strictly limited four-week season on Tuesday 1 October at the Finborough Theatre in west London.

The Niceties has direction by Matthew Iliffe, set and costume design by Rachel Stone and lighting design by Lucía Sánchez Roldán.