Spacey woos Mendes back to Old Vic

Mendes, 41, who made his name in British theatre before going on to find success as a Hollywood director, will direct six classical plays in three years for the Old Vic, of which Spacey, 47, is the artistic director.

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Oscar winners: Kevin Spacey and Sam Mendes at the 2000 Academy Awards will work together again at London's Old Vic theatre

Titled the Bridge Project, the plays will feature some of the best British and American stage actors, starring in a double-bill of classic works shown at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Old Vic and a third international venue, starting next year in the Piccolo Teatro, Milan.

Two British actors have already been chosen for the first two seasons. Next year, the company will stage two Shakespeare plays in the Italian city, with Stephen Dillane playing the title role in Hamlet and Prospero in the Tempest.

In the second year Simon Russell Beale will take the leads in The Winter's Tale and The Cherry Orchard.

Mendes built up his reputation as a creative force in British theatre after he founded and ran the Donmar Warehouse for ten years up to 2003, at which point he had become a highly rated film director after American Beauty in 1999 and Road to Perdition in 2002.

But he and his wife, the actress Kate Winslet, decided to spend more time with their children and since then he has only made one film, Jarhead, and one play, The Vertical Hour by David Hare in New York.

Mendes said: "I've been relishing the last four years because before that it was always about me trying to persuade Kevin.

Then suddenly the boot was on the other foot so I was stringing it out for as long as I could and finally I gave in.

"I'm a creator that enjoys working within the company environment. It's why I loved running the Donmar so long. I wanted to work with people I have working relationships with."

Spacey expressed his enthusiasm for the venture adding: "It seemed to all of us that we should do something together that was more than a one-off play.

"Yes, it's ambitious, and it fits right into the ethos that I've been trying to build at the Old Vic, which is that cultural bridge between the United States and London."