The press conference, which will be held Sept. 11 in London, is also expected to confirm Tennant in a new production of Love's Labour's Lost in which the "Doctor Who" star will play Berowne. The RSC is also expected to announce new productions of A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Taming of the Shrew and The Merchant of Venice, though casting details will be made in further announcements, probably in October.

The role of Claudius is the latest in a remarkable resurgence in Stewart's career as a Shakespearean actor. Stewart's acclaimed Macbeth is due to arrive at London's Gielgud Theatre for a ten-week season beginning Sept. 21. Rupert Goold's Chichester Festival production officially opens in the West End on Sept. 26.

Stewart's Macbeth follows recent successful turns for the RSC, playing the lead in Antony and Cleopatra and Prospero in The Tempest, which was also directed by Goold.

Stewart became an international star playing Captain Jean-Luc Picard in the "Star Trek" film and television series. In cinema he has continued his sci-fi roles playing Professor X in the "X-Men" movies.

Before he became familiar to television and film audiences, Stewart was, and still is, a highly rated stage actor with many Broadway and West End performances to his name. His previous RSC roles include Shylock, and more recently he appeared in the West End revivals of David Mamet's A Life in the Theatre and Ibsen's The Master Builder.

For more information on Macbeth, which is booking until Dec. 1, call (0)870 950 0915.