Olivier Award winner Roger Allam returns to the Hampstead Theatre to star as former novelist turned teacher Leonard in Theresa Rebeck’s comedy Seminar.

In the role of a cantankerous mentor to four aspiring writers, Allam follows in the footsteps of Alan Rickman and Jeff Goldblum, who played the part when the play ran on Broadway.

A tale of ambition, power and lust, Seminar follows the quartet of would-be writers as they jostle for position, build and break alliances, and hatch schemes to win the approval of their unorthodox tutor.

Winner of three Olivier Awards, Allam was most recently seen on stage in Henry IV Parts One and Two at Shakespeare’s Globe, a role that earned him his third esteemed accolade. The actor, whose extensive screen credits include films The Book Thief, The Woman In Black and Tamara Drewe, returns to the Hampstead Theatre following his performance in 2007’s The Giant.

Allam is joined in the cast by Charity Wakefield, whose Hampstead Theatre credits include The Blackest Black and No Naughty Bits, Eric And Ernie star Bryan Dick, Holby City’s Rebecca Grant and Oliver Hembrough, who was last seen on the London stage in Oh What A Lovely War at the Theatre Royal Stratford East. They play the four wannabe writers in the production.

The show is directed by Terry Johnson, who returns to the Hampstead Theatre following his 2013 hit Hysteria. The director’s other credits include West End productions of The Graduate, The Duck House and La Cage Aux Folles, and the recent Olivier Award nominated revival of Oh What A Lovely War at the Theatre Royal Stratford East.