Nicole Kidman will make her return to the London stage in a play about the woman who helped unlock the secrets of DNA.

The Paddington actress will star in Anna Ziegler’s Photograph 51, a play about Rosalind Franklin, a British scientist who helped discover DNA’s distinctive double-helix structure.

(PA/handout)
(PA/handout)

“It’s a privilege to be returning to London theatre in Anna Ziegler’s extraordinary play Photograph 51, portraying the life of Rosalind Franklin,” she said.

The play will reunite Nicole with director Michael Grandage, who work together in the forthcoming film Genius.

Michael Grandage (Greg Allen/Invision/AP)
Michael Grandage (Greg Allen/Invision/AP)

Producers announced that the play will open in September at London’s Noel Coward Theatre. It marks the return of the Michael Grandage Company, which previously mounted a season of London plays with stars including Judi Dench, Daniel Radcliffe and Jude Law.

Nicole’s best-known stage appearance in London was in The Blue Room in 1998. One critic memorably dubbed her “pure theatrical Viagra.”