Benedict back to the stage?

Rumours have been circulating around Benedict Cumberbatch's potential return to stage, appearing as the title role in Hamlet at the Barbican Theatre in 2015. The theatre has now confirmed that the actor will be opting for Shakespeare, rather than Sherlock, during a twelve week run starting 5 August 2015. The production will be directed by Olivier Award nominee Lyndsey Turner (Chimerica), and is set to be produced by Sonia Friedman Productions (The Book of Mormon, Shakespeare In Love). Hamlet will mark the end of a season of Shakespeare at the Barbican, which will also see productions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Henry IV parts I and II. Benedict Cumberbatch's appearance as Hamlet will mark his first full return to the stage since starring in Frankenstein, directed by Danny Boyle, at the National Theatre in 2011. Other stage credits include Hedda Gabler and A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre. Hamlet is one of Shakespeare's most challenging roles and Cumberbatch will be following in the recent footsteps of David Tennant, Rory Kinnear, Michael Sheen, John Simm and Jude Law as the troubled Prince. Since starring in Frankenstein, when he alternated the role of Frankenstein and his creature with Jonny Lee Miller, Cumberbatch has become a Hollywood star, portraying the villain Khan in Star Trek Into Darkness, Julian Assange in The Fifth Estate and a slave owner in 12 Years a Slave. This year he will appear as Alan Turing in The Imitation Game and is set to shoot The Lost City of Z , in which he will play the Amazon explorer Percy Fawcett, who searched for the fabled city of El Dorado.