CONSIDERING the number of quality roles he has played in his career, when Nigel Havers tells you that Art is the best modern play he has ever done, you have to take notice.

Nigel will be joined by Denis Lawson and Stephen Tompkinson to bring the award-winning comedy to the Grand Theatre in Leeds from April 3 to 7.

“It excites me to do the play,” he said. “The audiences love it, it’s brilliantly written and it’s an hour and 20 minutes long which makes it the perfect length for a play.”

Art is the story of three friends - Serge, Marc and Yvan - and how their friendship is affected when art lover Serge buys an expensive painting which is basically a white canvas.

Originally written in French, the play first premiered over 20 years ago and has subsequently been a hit on Broadway and in the West End.

“On paper it shouldn’t work,” said Nigel, who plays Serge. “When they first did it in rehearsal, the actors didn’t know if they wanted to continue with it. They didn’t know if it was going to work or if it was funny.

“But the moment it went in front of an audience, it just developed a life of its own. The genius of the writing shone through immediately.”

Both Nigel and Stephen Tomkinson will be appearing in the production for the second time.

Nigel, whose TV roles have ranged from Downton Abbey to Coronation Street and has starred in films including Chariots of Fire and A Passage to India, described Art as “a brilliantly observed study of friendship”.

“It is great fun to do,” he said, “but it is also exhausting to do. It is a real challenge every night, a bit like walking on ice.

“I suppose one of the reasons I love doing it is that it’s not something that you can just breeze through; you have to give it 110 per cent.”

Visit leedsgrandtheatre.com or call 0844 8482700 to book tickets.