Ghandi star Ben Kingsley has chosen Oxford for only his second appearance on stage in a decade.

He will play novelist D H Lawrence who exchanges intense letters and poems with his wife, Frieda - something which Mr Kingsley said was 'very, very close to my heart'.

He added: "I was drawn to it initially by how articulate they both are in the struggles of an intimate relationship. It seems to be very advanced in its thinking and is quite radical."

Proceeds from the production, The Tarnished Phoenix, at the Oxford Playhouse in Beaumont Street on April 9 and 10 will go to charity - the Playhouse and Spelsbury Memorial Village Hall, near Chipping Norton.

Mr Kingsley said his rare appearances on stage in the past ten years had not been deliberate, as he had become so enthralled with film and working with the 'cream of the cream' of directors he had never left time for the stage.

At the Playhouse, Mr Kingsley will perform with Deborah Morris, 24, who teaches drama in Oxford.

He said: "I feel I am looking after Deborah, not in a patronising way, but I know I am introducing a remarkable talent - she has a lovely attitude to her work."

He recently finished filming Anne Frank -The Whole Story, in Prague, in which he plays Anne's father, Otto.