Frances O'Connor and Will Keen to Headline Tom and Viv at the Almeida

Frances O'Connor and Will Keen will headline the first London revival of Michael Hastings' Tom and Viv. Lindsay Posner, who is currently represented in the West End by Fool for Love, will direct the production. The play will begin performances at the Almeida on September 12 and have its official opening on September 22.

Tom and Viv tells the the story of the relationship between T. S. Eliot and his first wife,Vivienne Haigh-Wood. The play takes place in Cambridge in 1915, when awkward American graduate Tom Keen meets wildly exquisite Viv O'Connor. Bewitched by her personality and class, enticed by his remarkable character, together they embark on a whirlwind romance. As Tom begins to find literary success, Viv's once-endearing volatility becomes harder to bear. Their hasty marriage becomes an impossible love story.

O'Connor is best known for her film work, including performances in the movies Mansfield Park, About Adam, Bedazzled, Artificial Intelligence: AI, 2002's The Importance of Being Earnest and Windtalkers. She last appeared on the London stage in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof in the West End, directed by Anthony Page. Her New York theater work includes Much Ado About Nothing, The Lady from the Sea and Lady Windemere's Fan, all for the Manhattan Theatre Club. On television she played the lead role in Madame Bovary for the BBC for which she received a Golden Globe nomination.

Keen returns to the Almeida, where he previously played Simon in Michael Attenborough's Five Gold Rings. His other theatre credits includes Declan Donnellan's production of The Changeling at the Barbican, The Rubenstein Kiss for the Hampstead Theatre, Peter Hall's productions of Don Juan and Man and Superman for the Theatre Royal Bath, Tom Stoppard's The Coast of Utopia at the National Theatre and Neil Bartlett's production of Pericles at the Lyric Hammersmith. His film work includes Love and Other Disasters and The Nine Lives of Thomas Katz. On television he was recently seen as Francis Bacon in C4's Elizabeth and Cezanne in The Impressionists for the BBC.

Keen and O'Connor are joined in the cast by Anna Carteret a regular with the National and the RSC who was recently seen in Nathan The Wise at the Hampstead Theatre, Sitting Pretty at Watford Palace Theatre and Absolutely! perhaps at Wyndham's Theatre, Laura Elphinstone Dominic Cooke's production of The Crucible for the RSC, Breathing Corpses for the Royal Court and Pictures of Clay for the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, Robert Portal extensive work for the RSC as well as Private Lives and The Deep Blue Sea for the Theatre Royal Bath, Calico at the Duke of York's Theatre and Noises Off at the Piccadilly Theatre and Benjamin Whitrow Alan Strachan's production of Entertaining Angels, Douglas Hodge's production of See How They Run and Tamsin Oglesby's production of Only The Lonely.

Tom and Viv, which will feature designs by Giles Cadle with lighting by Neil Austin and music and sound by Adam Cork, will play to November 4 at the Almeida.