Over the years we have seen any number of tip-top actors appearing in Private Lives at the Theatre Royal Bath.

Next week in a home-grown Theatre Royal production which can only be seen in Bath before sweeping into London's West End, the main stars of Noel Coward's famous play are Kim Cattrall from Sex and the City and Matthew Macfadyen from the BBC series Spooks and the recent Pride and Prejudice film.

The play opens in Bath on Wednesday and plays until Saturday, February 20 before heading straight into London's West End without, as is more usual, going anywhere else first.

Noël Coward's sophisticated comedy of manners provides a riotous showdown between two of the screen's most magnetic stars, Kim Cattrall and Matthew Macfadyen, who will play the roles of Amanda and Elyot.

After leaving Bath the play goes for an immediate ten-week season at the West End's Vaudeville Theatre from February 24.

Probably the most talked about production of Private Lives in recent years was the 1990 revival with Joan Collins in the leading role. It was a play that gave the star her Broadway debut two years later. Unfortunately, in the Bath production, she was upstaged by a then not so well known Sara Crowe.

Glamorous, rich and reckless, Elyot and Amanda have been divorced from each other for five years. Now both are honeymooning with their new spouses in the south of France.

When by chance they meet again across adjoining hotel balconies, their insatiable feelings for each other are immediately rekindled. Without a care for scandal, new partners or memories of what drove them apart in the first place, they hurl themselves headlong into love and lust.

Kim Cattrall's extensive acting career spans film, stage and television.

She is the winner of a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award and received five Emmy Award nominations for her role as femme fatale Samantha Jones in Sex and the City.

She recently completed filming for Sex and the City 2. Her films also include the upcoming Roman Polanski political thriller The Ghost, and Meet Monica Velour.

Other film credits include Porky's, Police Academy, Bonfire of the Vanities, Star Trek VI, John Carpenter's cult classic Big Trouble in Little China, Mannequin, The Tiger's Tail and the TV movie My Boy Jack, opposite Daniel Radcliffe. Her West End credits include Whose Life Is It, Anyway? and The Cryptogram. She made her Broadway debut starring opposite Ian McKellen in Chekhov's Wild Honey. Born in Liverpool, she was recently the subject of BBC's Who Do You Think You Are?.

Matthew Macfadyen is best known for his role as Tom Quinn in the BBC TV series Spooks and as Mr Darcy in the 2005 film of Pride and Prejudice.

Tickets are difficult to get hold of but call the box office on 01225 448844.