It's 40 years since David Warner played the youngest ever Hamlet in a renowned RSC production which ran for two years.

Now, in a highlight of the Chichester Festival programme, Warner is to take on the even more challenging role of Lear.

Since his formative brush with the Bard, Warner has become best known as a screen actor, having featured in Titanic, The Omen and Planet Of The Apes. And while he has also recently starred in stage productions of Richard II and Henry VI, few will have had an opportunity to encounter the actor up close and personal.

And it doesn't get more personal than King Lear, a tragic tale of treachery and deceit in which an ageing king sets out to test the affections of his three daughters.

As the family is torn apart by a simple misunderstanding, fear destabilises the kingdom.

This production reunites many of the team behind 2004's The Master And Margarita, including Oliviernominated director, Steve Pimlott.

Tickets £16 - £21, call 01243 781312