Outlying Islands, Wednesday, November 8 until Saturday, December 2, Ustinov Theatre, Bath.

Following the huge success of last year's first Ustinov production of The Blue Room, the Ustinov is once again closing the autumn season with its own production - Outlying Islands, David Greig's extraordinary and haunting drama, winner of the Best New Play Award from the Critics Circle 2002.

This is the first major English revival of the play and is the major event of Ustinov Studio's programme.

On the eve of the Second World War, two young government ornithologists arrive on a remote and uninhabited Scottish island to make a scientific study of the island's bird life. But it emerges that the ministry may not have been straight with them. It's not research, but part of a chemical weapons test. With them on the island are Kirk, the authoritarian lease-holder, and his niece, a young woman who dreams of the stars of silent comedy. Left alone, surrounded by the vast Atlantic, they are briefly drawn together before their innocence and youth is destroyed forever.

One of the UK's most prolific dramatists, David Grieg's work has recently been seen at the Royal Court, the Donmar, and the Edinburgh International Festival. Outlying Islands will be directed by Loveday Ingram, whose work has been seen at the RSC, the National Theatre, and at Chichester, where she succeeded Sam Mendes.

Starring in Outlying Islands will be three of the country's most exciting young actors. Ben Turner will be familiar to Bath audiences having appeared in the Peter Hall Company earlier this year, as Claudio in Measure for Measure and Dennis Wickstead in Habeas Corpus. He has also appeared in As You Like It in the West End with Helen McCrory and Sienna Miller, and has recently appeared in the critically acclaimed revival of Doctor Who, playing King Louis XV opposite David Tennant and Sophie Myles.

Thomas Arnold has spent the last two years with the National Theatre, appearing in Henry IV parts 1 & 2, Cyrano de Bergerac, Mourn-ing Becomes Her, Three Sisters and Coast of Utopia. He will shortly be appearing in a new Miss Marple drama for ITV, and was last seen in Richard Curtis' Emmy Award winning film, The Girl in the Caf.

Ruth Everett plays Ellen, coming direct from appearing in Rabbit in the West End, and the RSC/Cheek by Jowl production of Great Expectations.

They will be joined by one of the country's most admired character actors, Ewan Hooper, in the role of Kirk. Ewan has recently been seen on TV in Wire in the Blood, Casualty, Heartbeat and Peak Practice and played George in last year's hit British comedy Kinky Boots.