Branagh ends 10-year stage absence

Branagh will take the lead as Richard III

LONDON, England -- UK actor Kenneth Branagh is to return to the stage on Tuesday , the first time in 10 years.

Known for his Shakespearean films, Branagh will play the lead in Richard III in Sheffield, northern England, earning just above the actors' union rate of £278.50 a week.

The show at Crucible Theatre has been sold out and was the fastest-selling show in the theatre's 30-year history, a theatre spokesman said.

Branagh, 41, who was last seen on stage as Hamlet for the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1992.

After winning Oscar nominations as both Best Actor and Best Director for Henry V in 1989, he went on to direct big-screen adaptations of Much Ado About Nothing, Hamlet and Love's Labour's Lost.

He recently starred in Woody Allen's Celebrity and provided the voice for Miguel in the animation The Road to El Dorado.

He also appeared in Wild, Wild West with Will Smith and Kevin Kline, and in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein in 1994 and Peter's Friends in 1992.

Branagh is next due to appear on screen in the sequel to Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. He plays Professor Gilderoy Lockhart in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the second movie adaptation of JK Rowling's novels.