The Cherry Orchard, Theatre Royal Windsor

Days after playing Hamlet in an age-blind production at Theatre Royal Windsor, Lord of the Rings star and giant of the stage Sir Ian McKellen is stepping into the wistful shoes of Firs in a new adaptation of Anton Chekhov's final play The Cherry Orchard. The production forms part two of the theatre's reopening season, which is being directed by Sean Mathias, produced by Bill Kenwright and brought to life by a single company of actors. Also in the cast, which is weighted towards mature talent, are Kenwright's spouse Jenny Seagrove (A Woman of Substance), acclaimed theatre practitioner Steven Berkoff and Francesca Annis (Reckless, Wives and Daughters).

Comic and tragic in equal measure, The Cherry Orchard follows a Russian landowner, Ranevskaya, who returns to the family estate only to find it's been put up for auction. Written in 1903, the play offers a commentary on the socio-economic changes sweeping across Russia at the turn of the century, including the abolition of serfdom, the fall of the aristocracy and the rise of the middle class.

McKellen will play the part of the ageing, eccentric manservant Firs who embodies the country's former, fading ideologies. Annis plays the focal Ranevskaya and Seagrove her brother Gayev.

On his roles in both Hamlet and The Cherry Orchard, McKellen said: 'I’ve acted in both these masterpieces before – and seen them scores of times. They are in that select group of classic plays which bear, even demand, a regular look, even reappraisal, by actors, directors, producers – and audiences.'