The playwright will himself direct a cast that comprises Francesca Annis, Helen Bradbury, Barbara Flynn, Christopher Godwin, Selina Griffiths, Tom Hughes, Tamla Kari, Edward Killingback, Gwilym Lee, Adrian Lukis, Josh O’Connor, Simon Williams and Eleanor Yates. The play, which is about the legacy of the decisions made at the end of WWI, will be accompanied by a series of talks entitled "Impossible Conversations" to discuss the Great War and its legacy. Shami Chakrabarti, A.C. Grayling, Max Hastings, Susie Orbach and Ahdaf Soueif will each examine different parts of the historical legacy of both the war and the Treaty of Versailles.

Annis, who has appeared twice on Broadway in Hamlet (first as Ophelia opposite Nicol Williamson in 1969, then as Gertrude opposite Ralph Fiennes in 1995), was most recently seen onstage in The Machine, a co-production between the Donmar, Manchester International Festival and Park Avenue Armory in New York. Other recent credits include Time and the Conways at the National Theatre and Under the Blue Sky and Epitaph for George Dillon in the West End.

Public booking for the "Impossible Conversations" talks opens Dec. 3. Booking is already open for Versailles. To book tickets, contact the box office on 0844 871 7624 or visit www.donmarwarehouse.com for more details.