Theatre adapts classic Niven film

The 1946 film starred David Niven

An adaptation of the classic British film A Matter Of Life and Death is to be staged at the National Theatre.

The 1946 movie starred David Niven and tells the story of a pilot who endures a heavenly trial for his life after he mistakenly survives a plane crash.

It is best remembered for its special effect of a celestial escalator linking earth and the afterlife.

The stage version, believed to be the first, will form part of the National Theatre's spring and summer season.

The movie, created by legendary British film-makers Powell and Pressburger, has been adapted by the NT's Associate Director, Tom Morris, and Emma Rice, who will also direct.

Tristan Sturrock, best known as Colin Hedges in TV drama Bad Girls, will take on the Niven role.

Green Wing star Julian Rhind-Tutt will appear in a new play

Other performers announced for the National Theatre's upcoming season include Ralph Fiennes, Ben Chaplin, Anne-Marie Duff and Zoe Wannamaker.

The theatre will stage five new plays, including one by Joe Penhall, whose Blue/Orange won the Olivier, Evening Standard and Critics' Circle awards for Best New Play in 2001.

Landscape With Weapon tells the story of a man who struggles with the consequences of developing an entirely new type of warfare.

Tom Hollander, from Pirates of The Caribbean, and Julian Rhind-Tutt, from medical comedy series Green Wing, will star.

The National Theatre's successful £10 ticket offer will be repeated for the fifth year running during the spring and summer season.

A total of 170,000 tickets for six shows will be offered at the knock-down price, including A Matter of Life And Death, George Bernard Shaw's Saint Joan and Tennessee Williams' The Rose Tattoo.