THE first ever large-scale stage production of Evelyn Waugh’s classic novel Brideshead Revisited is on tour this year to help mark the 50th anniversary year of the author’s death.

The story has been adapted for the stage by Bryony Lavery and Damian Cruden will direct Christopher Simpson as Sebastian, Brian Ferguson as Charles and Rosie Hilal as Julia, who will be on stage at Malvern’s Festival Theatre from Tuesday, May 31 to Saturday, June 4.

Nick Blakeley, Caroline Harker, Samantha Lawson, Kiran Sonia Sawar, Paul Shelley and Shuna Snow complete the company.

It’s 1943 and, finding himself in familiar territory within the English countryside, Charles Ryder confronts memories of his first youthful encounter with Brideshead Castle and its assortment of eccentric inhabitants.

In acclaimed playwright Bryony Lavery’s sparkling new reimagining of the classic novel, the past and the present blur as Charles recalls those heady days at Brideshead and Lord and Lady Marchmain, along with their offspring, Julia, Cordelia, Bridey and Sebastian Flyte re-emerge…

Lavery previously collaborated with English Touring Theatre on her play Thursday in 2013. Her recent work includes an adaptation of Treasure Island for the National Theatre and a new play Queen Coal which ran at the Sheffield Crucible Studio in 2014.  Her other plays include Frozen, The Believers, Beautiful Burnout, Last Easter, Stockholm, Yikes, A Wedding Story, Ophelia, Nothing Compares To You and Flight.

Brian Ferguson plays Charles Ryder. He has numerous theatre credits to his name including The Broken Heart, The Changeling (The Globe), Hamlet (Citizens Theatre) along with Richard III, Dunsinane and Shakespeare In A Suitcase for the RSC).

His television credits include Line Of Duty, Our World War, Field Of Blood: The Dead Hour, One Minute Drama: The Prayer and River City, Taggart: Island, while his film credits include Imagine That King, Voices, The Woods and Residue Christopher Simpson, who plays Sebastian, has such theatre credits as Forests (international tour), The Ramayana (National Theatre) and Leaner Faster Stronger (Cultural Olympiad at Sheffield Theatres), while on television he has appeared in Shameless, All about George, State of Play, Second Generation and White Teeth.

His film credits include Sixteen, The Day Of The Flowers, It’s A Wonderful Afterlife, Brick Lane, Mischief Night, Chromophobia and Code 46.

  Rosie Hilal will be playing Julia. Her theatre credits include The Oresteia, Measure For Measure, Anthony and Cleopatra, Holy Warriors (Shakespeare's Globe), The Hypochondriac (Shakespeare's Globe, The Wannamaker Theatre), The Hard Problem (National Theatre), All's Well That Ends Well, As You Like It, Hamlet (RSC) and Occupied (Theatre 503). Her film credits include London Road.