Joining the previously announced Indira Varma (The Vortex, The Skin of Their Teeth), who will play the role of Nadia Blye, will be RSC regular Anton Lesser (A Winter's Tale) as Oliver and Tom Riley (The Woman Before), who will play Phillip, Oliver's son and Nadia's boyfriend.

The Vertical Hour received its world premiere on Broadway in November 2006 in a production directed by Sam Mendes and starring Julianne Moore in her Broadway debut.

In the play, Nadia and Phillip visit Phillip's father in the Welsh countryside, where the trio get into heated discussions about love, death, marriage, parenthood and the Iraq war.

The Royal Court's 2008 season continues with Debbie Tucker Green's (Stoning Mary, Dirty Butterfly) new play Random (from March 7) and Martin Crimp's new work The City, directed by Katie Mitchell, which begins performances on April 24 and officially opens on April 29.

For more on the Royal Court's 2008 season, call (0)20 7565 5000.