Blair Brown (Copenhagen) will play his mother, and the cast also includes Paul Hecht, Mary Beth Hurt and Ana Reeder, with one actor yet to be cast. The play, inspired by Hamlet, was the winner of the 2001 Critics Circle Best Play Award, playing the Royal National Theatre's Cottesloe Theatre in fall 2001.

In it, 35-year-old Felix Humble, a Cambridge astro-physicist, returns home to his bee-keeping father's funeral in middle England, only to discover his difficult and domineering mother in the arms of another man. As he struggles to find his balance in the midst of familial chaos, "what emerges is a touching, funny and entertaining dysfunctional family portrait," according to MTC.

Simon Russell Beale (wowing 'em at the Brooklyn Academy of Music at the moment, in Twelfth Night and Uncle Vanya) originated the role of Felix, with Diana Rigg as the mother.

Set and costumes are by Tim Hatley, with lighting by Paul Pyant, repeating their London roles.

Performances begin at MTC's Stage I at City Center April 22. The opening date has not yet been determined (mid-May is expected). Director Caird is best known for lavish productions of the musicals Jane Eyre and Les Misérables. Humble Boy was Charlotte Jones' first play at the Royal National Theatre. Her previous work includes In Flame, seen in London.

Currently at MTC, the New York City not-for-profit which offers New York premieres and world premieres, is David Lindsay-Abaire's Kimberly Akimbo, on Stage I.

For more information, visit ManhattanTheatreClub.org.