The revival, which features a new translation by David Eldridge, marks the final production of the Donmar's current season.

Also starring are Penelope Wilton (Little Foxes at the Donmar and The House of Benarda Alba at the National) and Deborah Findlay, whose Donmar credits include The Vortex and The Cut.

The cast also includes Emma Beattie, David Burke, Lolita Chakrabati, Lisa Diveney and Rafe Spall. Design is by Peter McKintosh with lighting by Neil Austin.

The production follows McDiarmid's previous collaboration with Donmar artistic director Michael Grandage, who directed McDiarmid in Pirandello's Henry IV and at the Almeida in The Jew of Malta and The Doctor's Dilemma.

McDiarmid won a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play for Brian Friel's Faith Healer. In Ibsen's drama he plays the disgraced and destitute Borkman who paces alone in his room. Downstairs his family is trapped in the claustrophobic atmosphere of a household bound for explosion. For the Donmar Eldridge also translated Ibsen's The Wild Duck. Other credits include the award-winning stage version of the Dogme film, Festen.

Grandage currently has two musical productions running in the West End with Guys and Dolls and Evita.

For more on John Gabriel Borkman, which is booking until April 14, call (0)870 060 6624.