Back in the summer of 2017, Kenneth ‘Sir Ken’ Branagh directed Tom Hiddleston in an ultra-exclusive, ultra low-key production of ‘Hamlet’ that served as a fundraiser for their alma mater, the Rada drama school.

Four years on, and here’s another hot-ticket Rada fundraiser: no Hiddleston this time, but Branagh will be deploying his own formidable acting chops to star in a very limited run production of Terence Rattigan’s sublime ‘The Browning Version’, the great English playwright’s piercingly bittersweet 1948 short play about an embittered classics teacher Andrew Crocker-Harris’s last day at his school.

As Crocker-Harris, Branagh is the big name, and he’ll be joined by a cast of Rada graduates.

The production will run for a mere three weeks this August at Riverside Studios, and will go on sale with a capacity of just 170 – this should double if social distancing does indeed end on July 19, but by any measure it’s a rare chance to see one of the great British actors of our day, up close and personal, and all for a good cause.

The initial run of tickets go on sale 21 June at 10 am from branagh-theatre.com.

‘The Browning Version’ is at Riverside Studios, Aug 5-29.