New Park Theatre season announced

The Park Theatre has announced its latest season, with appearances from the already announced Ian McKellen, as well as Gyles Brandreth, Kathy Burke and Ian McDiarmid.

Six world premieres make up the season, which kicks off with McKellen's one man show Shakespeare, Tolkein, Others and You, directed by Park artistic director Jez Bond. The show runs between 3 and 9 July in Park 200 and is an evening of McKellen reprising some of his renowned performances.

Following from McKellen's appearance will be the world premiere of Kevin Elyot's final play Twilight Song. Running between 12 July and 12 August, the show is directed by Anthony Banks and is set in a sitting room in north London in 1967 as revolution hits.

A brand new revival of Loot is also in the line-up, with Joe Orton's play directed by Michael Fentiman. The black comedy first opened 50 years ago and won the Evening Standard Best Play award. The farce follows two young friends who stash the proceeds of a bank robbery in an occupied coffin.

Roxana Silbert's production of What Shadows will transfer from the Birmingham Rep to the Park Theatre in September, with Ian McDiarmid reprising his role as the controversial figure Enoch Powell. The show runs from 27 September to 28 October.

Actress and comedian Kathy Burke will direct Sam Bain's play The Retreat in November. The Retreat follows Luke who has left his high flying city job in order to find peace in the Highlands.

Over Christmas, Paulette Randall will direct Daisy Pulls it Off , Denise Deegan's affectionate parody of a 1920s schoolgirl. The show runs from 5 December to 13 January.

In Park 90, Gyles Brandreth will appear in a production of Hamlet, alongside his son, Benet Brandreth and his wife Kosha Engler. The show is directed by Simon Evans and is a stripped back version played by only three actors. The show runs from 22 August to 16 September.

Elsewhere in the theatre's smaller space, Chuch Anderson's The View From Nowhere runs through June and July, a production of Rabbits runs from 26 July to 19 August. The Revlon Girl runs from 19 September to 13 October and Fishkin Trousers runs from 17 October to 11 November. Matthew Campling's The Secondary Victim runs from 14 November to 9 December and White Fang, directed and written by Jethro Compton will run between 13 December and 13 January.