AUF Wiedersehen Pet star Jimmy Nail is to lead the cast in a production of Sting’s new musical The Last Ship at York Theatre Royal next summer.

The arrival of the ‘personal, political and passionate’ musical in late June during its UK premiere tour is just part of a new spring season at the theatre which will also feature the dark criminal underworld of Graham Greene’s Brighton Rock, the House of Commons in Maiden Speeches and the debtors’ prison at York Castle Museum in These Walls.

The cast list for the season includes Imogen Stubbs, Gwen Taylor, Kerry Ellis, Janie Dee and TV historian Lucy Worsley, said a theatre spokesman.

“New work is led by the world premiere of The Be All and End All, in the Main House from May 4–19, written by Jonathan Lewis, author of the award-winning play Our Boys, and starring Imogen Stubbs,” he said.

“This contemporary drama of a family torn apart by a hunger for success and fear of failure asks the question: How far would you go to get your child that coveted A*?”

He said six Falklands/Malvinas war veterans who once faced each other across a battlefield would face each other across a stage in Minefield in late March. “In Lola Arias’ play they share memories, films, songs and photos as they recall their collective war and embody the political figures that led them into it.”

He said Gwen Taylor, star of Barbara and Duty Free, would take on the iconic role of Lady Bracknell in Oscar Wilde’s classic comedy The Importance of Being Earnest in April, adding: “She was last seen at the theatre in the thriller Night Must Fall. Kerry Ellis and Susan Penhaligon also feature.”