It will begin performances at the West End's Duchess Theatre June 1, prior to an official opening June 6, and is booking for a run through Aug. 27.

Prior to London, it will also play an engagement at Brighton's Theatre Royal, running May 25-28. Directed by Lindsay Posner and designed by Peter McKintosh, the cast also includes Penny Downie and Paul McGann.

The play revolves around Ben Butler, a rapier-tongued University lecturer, in a production that press notes state provides a comic assault on the soft underbelly of academia. Butley is having a monumentally bad day -- so bad, he’s making sure everyone else has a worse one. His estranged wife has taken up with the most boring man in London. His beloved protégé has found a new benefactor. And in an unprecedented act of betrayal even the English department's resident failure has a book deal. Butley's trusty arsenal of mischievous irony and gleeful troublemaking have never failed him yet. Might they finally prove to be the weapons of his own tragic self-destruction?

West played the character of Jimmy McNulty in five seasons of HBO's "The Wire" from 2002 to 2008. Other screen credits include "The Devil's Whore," "Centurion" and "300." Theatre credits include The Seagull (Old Vic), As You Like It (West End), The Voysey Inheritance (National), Rock ‘n’ Roll (West End).

Downie, who plays Edna Shaft, was seen in the RSC's Hamlet, playing Gertrude opposite David Tennant, and Penelope in The Penelopiad. McGann, who plays Reg Nuttall, is best known for his role in "Withnail and I" and as the 8th Doctor in TV's "Doctor Who." His theatre credits include Helen at Shakespeare's Globe and Mourning Becomes Electra at the National.

Posner's directorial credits include West End productions of An Ideal Husband, A View from the Bridge, Fiddler on the Roof, Fool for Love, Oleanna and Death and the Maiden.

To book tickets for the West End run, contact the box office on 0844 412 4659, or visit www.butleylondon.com for more details.