Jemma Redgrave has now been cast in the title role of the West End revival of George Bernard Shaw's classic comedy Major Barbara. Rehearsals have already begun for the play which will open at the Piccadilly Theatre, 14 May (previews from 1 May).

The play will be the third in the new Peter Hall season which opens this week, 10 March, with Beckett's Waiting for Godot. It is the first major London revival of Major Barbara since the National Theatre production in 1982.

Redgrave is best known for her television appearances in the UK. She will join a distiniguished cast that includes Elaine Paige, Michael Pennington, Peter Bowles, Anna Careret and David Yelland. Dame Judi Dench, currently appearing in David Hare's Amy's View at the Aldwych Theatre, joins the company in the autumn to star in Filumena.

All of the play's in London's newest repertory venture are directed by Sir Peter Hall, whose season last year at the Old Vic earned critical acclaim. The season is produced by Bill Kenwright and designed by John Gunter who was nominated for a 1998 Laurence Olivier Award for his work in Hall's Old Vic season.

--By Terri Paddock
What's On Stage, London