Dougray is on a new mission

Dougray Scott, now a force in Hollywood after his performance as the villain in Mission: Impossible 2, is returning to London to take a leading role on the West End stage.

He has been lured back by the prospect of appearing next month in To The Green Fields And Beyond, Nick Whitby's new play - to be directed by Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes at his Donmar Warehouse.

Scott is joining a strong ensemble cast that already includes Ray Winstone, who withdrew from a series of film projects to make his participation possible.

The play, set on the eve of battle in the last year of the First World War, is about a multi-ethnic tank crew and how, from their different backgrounds, they react to the exceptional pressures placed upon them.

The crew come from all over the British Empire, including India and the Caribbean, and are played by Hugh Dancy, Danny Babington, Nini Ganatra, Finbar Lynch, Danny Sapani and Adrian Scarborough.

Mendes had originally intended to make Shakespeare's Twelfth Night his next project but he changed his mind when he saw the quality of Whitby's script.

"One must take advantage of good and exciting new plays when they come, because they don't arrive every day," Mendes said.

"One of the benefits of running a theatre is that you can change productions when you need to, and Shakespeare will not be going away."

Mendes has a number of film projects under consideration, and has been working closely with Get Shorty writer Scott Frank in developing the thriller The Lookout at Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks.

But he opted to return to the Donmar, where he is artistic director, rather than follow up his Oscar-winning American Beauty with another movie.