Richard Armitage and Toby Jones to star in Uncle Vanya in the West End

Toby Jones and Richard Armitage are set to star in a new West End production of Uncle Vanya next year, produced by Sonia Friedman.

According to the Daily Mail, Ian Rickson will direct Conor McPherson's new adaptation of the Anton Chekhov's play at the Harold Pinter Theatre, set to open in January 2020.

Armitage will play the doctor Astrov and Jones will play the eponymous Vanya who both fall for the same woman, Yelena. Further casting is yet to be announced.

Uncle Vanya will run at the Harold Pinter Theatre in 2020. Exact dates and ticket details are yet to be announced.

Toby Jones was last seen in the West End at the Pinter in a revival of Harold Pinter's play The Birthday Party, alongside Zoe Wanamaker and Stephen Mangan. He won an Olivier Award in 2001 for his role in the comedy The Play What I Wrote, directed by Kenneth Branagh.

Richard Armitage last appeared on stage in London in Yaël Farber's production of The Crucible at the Old Vic, for which he was nominated for an Olivier for his portrayal of John Proctor. His other stage credits include Macbeth at the RSC, and Love, Love, Love in New York.

The last English language production of the play in the West End starred Kenn Stott, Anna Friel and Sam West at the Vaudeville Theatre in 2012 when Christopher Hampton's adaptation was directed by Lindsay Posner. It was performed in Russian by Maly Drama Theatre at the Theatre Royal Haymarket last year.

Uncle Vanya will run at the Harold Pinter Theatre in January 2020.

_{Photo credit: WEBN-TV (flickr, CC BY-ND 2.0), Gage Skidmore (flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0)}