Sir Ian McKellen is to play Widow Twankey in a Christmas pantomime, it was revealed today as Kevin Spacey announced details of his inaugural season as artistic director of the Old Vic theatre.
Oscar-winner Spacey, who was in the headlines this week after claiming he was mugged in a London park, said he was "thrilled" that Sir Ian, 64, one of Britain's most distinguished actors, had agreed to appear in his production of Aladdin.
And Spacey, 44, sprung another surprise by disclosing he will be starring in two of the plays himself.
He will take a leading role in The Philadelphia Story, the final production of his first season, in July next year, and is also to appear in National Anthems - a critique of US suburbia by Dennis McIntyre.
The first play of the season is Cloaca, by Dutch playwright Maria Goos, which will have its London premiere in September and star Neil Pearson, Hugh Bonneville, Stephen Tompkinson and Ingeborga Dapkunaite.
Spacey, who called the play "a story of life going in different directions from what had been expected", added: "I'm exceedingly excited by the range of work and the fact that we have decided to begin with a new work from a different culture."
Each performance at the 1,000-strong venue will have 100 tickets on sale for £12 - available only to under-25s.
In future seasons, Spacey said, he plans to produce Shakespeare and hopes to tackle some of the Bard's greatest roles for himself. It is rumoured that the first of these will be Richard III.
