LONDON (AP) – Kevin Spacey will be behind the scenes and not on stage when London's Old Vic Theatre opens its 2009 season in January.

The Academy Award-winning actor will direct the world premiere of Joe Sutton's "Complicit'', a new American play about a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist facing prosecution. It runs January 7-February 21, 2009.

Spacey, an Oscar winner for "American Beauty" and "The Usual Suspects'', has run the legendary theatre since 2003 and appeared there early this year in a critically acclaimed revival of David Mamet's "Speed-the-Plow''.

"Complicit" will be followed by a revival of Brian Friel's Irish drama "Dancing at Lughnasa'', starring Niamh Cusack and Andrea Corr from singing group The Corrs. It runs February 26-May 9.

Productions of Shakespeare's "The Winter's Tale" and Chekhov's "The Cherry Orchard'', directed by Oscar winner Sam Mendes, will run at the Old Vic May 23-August 15. The cast includes Ethan Hawke, Simon Russell Beale, Sinead Cusack and Rebecca Hall.

The plays are part of the Bridge Project, a three-year collaboration between the Old Vic, New York's Brooklyn Academy of Music and Neal Street Productions, run by Mendes and Caro Newling. The double bill will run in Brooklyn from January to March, followed by an international tour.

Mendes, married to actress Kate Winslet, has directed both movies and plays. He won an Oscar for "American Beauty''.