Slapstick comic Lee Evans is to return to the stage in a serious drama - the 50th anniversary production of Harold Pinter's The Dumb Waiter.

Evans, 42, found fame as a stand-up but has also starred in The Producers musical and Hollywood movie There's Something About Mary. Now he is to play the role of hitman Gus in London's West End next month.

It comes amid fears that blockbuster musicals are in danger of driving plays out of theatreland, with producers of serious dramas unable to compete with the likes of The Sound of Music, Wicked or Spamalot.

But producer Sonia Friedman has put her faith in Evans and in Pinter's menacing one-act play, which will begin a sevenweek run at London's Trafalgar Studios from 2 February.

In December, the play Bent, starring Alan Cumming and also produced by Friedman, closed five weeks early at the same venue.

"Plays that don't have mega-stars attached to them or that haven't come in on a wave of reviews... are going to struggle in an environment where there's a huge influx of new and imported musicals with American-style marketing thrown at them," said Friedman.

Pinter's The Dumb Waiter tells the tale of two hitmen and their wait together in an airless basement room for the identity of their next target. Evans will co-star with actor Jason Isaacs.