Star of the big screen's "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" and "Bridget Jones' Diary" Gemma Jones will be appearing in this year's Bermuda Festival, organisers announced on Thursday.

Ms Jones, who played Madam Pomfrey in Harry Potter and Bridget Jones' mother in Bridget Jones, will be appearing in the English Chamber Theatre's production of "If I Should Die", a play about the poet Rupert Brooke.

Sharing the stage with Ms Jones will be Ed Stoppard, son of renowned playwright Sir Tom Stoppard, who has appeared on screen in Udi Eidel's The Little Vampire and as Henryk in Roman Polanski's The Pianist. Mr. Stoppard has also appeared on television on, amongst others, Relic Hunters.

Ms Jones and Mr. Stoppard will be accompanied by concert pianist Marcus Andrews.

The cast replaces those originally billed to perform in "If I Should Die" as former cast member Jane Asher has been contracted to play the lead for a year in the U.K. television soap opera Crossroads, necessitating her withdrawal from the Bermuda Festival.

"If I Should Die" tells the story of Rupert Brooke through the eyes of a woman who knew him from his early days at Rugby, a boarding school in the U.K.

The play moves on through the heady days at Cambridge; the move to the Old Vicarage in Granchester; visits to Munich; and the poet's fated love affair with Katherine Cox.

It continues through his breakdown; life in London; meeting the actress Catherine Nesbitt; his travels to North America and the Pacific; and finishes with his war experiences, cut short by his untimely death.

The production, running on February 3 and 4, is directed by Jane McCulloch, a distinguished writer, playwright and theatre director.

Ms McCulloch was the founder of of the English Chamber Theatre, and under her direction the Company has performed all over the world, including seasons at the Doolittle Theatre, Los Angeles, and in London's West End.

To purchase tickets for "If I Should Die" or for any other Festival performance, you can log on to www.bermudafestival.com. You can also go to the Festival Box Office, next to the Ferry Terminal on Front Street, between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Monday to Saturday, or telephone the office at those hours with a credit or debit card 296-5774.