It will begin performances at the West End's Duchess Theatre June 1, prior to an official opening June 6, and is booking for a run through Aug. 27.
Prior to London, it will also play an engagement at Brighton's Theatre Royal, running May 25-28. Directed by Lindsay Posner and designed by Peter McKintosh, the cast also includes the previously reported Penny Downie and Paul McGann.
Newly announced for the production are Amanda Drew, Martin Hutson, Cai Brigden and Emma Hiddleston.
The play revolves around Ben Butler, a rapier-tongued University lecturer, in a production that "provides a comic assault on the soft underbelly of academia. Butley is having a monumentally bad day -- so bad, he’s making sure everyone else has a worse one. His estranged wife has taken up with the most boring man in London. His beloved protégé has found a new benefactor. And in an unprecedented act of betrayal even the English department's resident failure has a book deal. Butley's trusty arsenal of mischievous irony and gleeful troublemaking have never failed him yet. Might they finally prove to be the weapons of his own tragic self-destruction?"
West played the character of Jimmy McNulty in five seasons of HBO's "The Wire" from 2002 to 2008. Other screen credits include "The Devil's Whore," "Centurion" and "300." Theatre credits include The Seagull (Old Vic), As You Like It (West End), The Voysey Inheritance (National), Rock ‘n’ Roll (West End). Downie, who plays Edna Shaft, was seen in the RSC's Hamlet, playing Gertrude opposite David Tennant, and Penelope in The Penelopiad.
McGann, who plays Reg Nuttall, is best known for his role in "Withnail and I" and as the 8th Doctor in TV's "Doctor Who." His theatre credits include Helen at Shakespeare's Globe and Mourning Becomes Electra at the National.
Amanda Drew, who will play Anne Butley, played the role of Beth in the recent West End revival of Simon Gray’s Otherwise Engaged. Other recent stage appearances include House of Games (Almeida), ENRON (Chichester/Royal Court/West End), Parlour Song (Almeida) and The Ugly One (Royal Court).
Martin Hutson, who will play Joseph Keyston, has been seen on stage in Antony and Cleopatra (Liverpool Playhouse), Taking Sides / Collaboration (Chichester/West End), The Voysey Inheritance (NT), The Comedy of Errors (Sheffield) and As You Like It (RSC). He was nominated in 2001 for the Ian Charleson Award for his roles in Ghosts (West End) and As You Like It (Sheffield).
Posner's directorial credits include West End productions of An Ideal Husband, A View from the Bridge, Fiddler on the Roof, Fool for Love, Oleanna and Death and the Maiden.
To book tickets for the West End run, contact the box office on 0844 412 4659, or visit www.butleylondon.com for more details.
