Rhys Ifans will star as Scrooge in A Christmas Carol at The Old Vic

Matthew Warchus will direct the BAFTA winner in a new adaptation by Jack Thorne

BAFTA Award-winning Welsh Superstar Rhys Ifans will make a return to The Old Vic this festive season, when he takes on one of Charles Dickens' most iconic characters in Ebenezer Scrooge in a new adaptation of A Christmas Carol by Jack Thorne - the Olivier Award-winning playwright of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

The Old Vic's Artistic Director Matthew Warchus will helm the production, which is set to begin previews on 18 November 2017, before an official opening on 29 November and a limited run through to 20 January 2018.

"On a bitter Christmas Eve night a cold-hearted miser is visited by four ghosts. Transported to worlds past, present and future, Ebenezer Scrooge witnesses what a lifetime of fear and selfishness has led to and sees with fresh eyes the lonely life he has built for himself. Can Ebenezer be saved before it's too late?"

The new production is recommended for anyone aged 11 or above.

Rhys Ifans appeared at The Old Vic last year alongside Glenda Jackson, playing the role of Fool in Shakespeare's King Lear. His other London stage credits include the National Theatre productions of Protest Song, Volpone and Under Milk Wood, the Donmar Warehouse productions of Don Juan in Soho, Accidental Death of an Anarchist and Bad Finger, as well as Beautiful Thing at Duke of York Theatre and Thyestes at the Royal Court. Film fans will recognise him from his roles in "Notting Hill" (for which he earned a BAFTA nomination in 2000), "Snowdon," "Alice Through the Looking Glass," "The Amazing Spider-Man," "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1," "The Boat that Rocked," "Elizabeth: The Golden Age," and "Hannibal Rising," among many others. On television, he won a BAFTA in 2005 for his work on "Not Only But Always."

A Christmas Carol Tickets will go on general sale on 11 August 2017.

(Photo Credit: David Bebber)