One played Maester Cressen in the hugely successful HBO series Game of Thrones.
The other appeared on screen last year in the fourth season of Netflix historical drama The Crown as Denis Thatcher alongside Gillian Anderson as Margaret Thatcher.
But veteran Olivier Award-winning actor Oliver Ford Davies (Game of Thrones) and Stephen Boxer (The Crown) will be playing novelist Graham Greene and the notorious Soviet spy Kim Philby on stage in Cambridge next week.
A Splinter of Ice opens at the Cambridge Arts Theatre on Tuesday, July 20.
Running until Saturday, July 24, Ben Brown’s coruscating new political drama explores an unlikely friendship.
It is a fascinating historical drama exploring the truth and real friendship between Graham Greene and Kim Philby.
Moscow, 1987. As the Cold War begins to thaw, an extraordinary reunion takes place.
As Graham Greene and Kim Philby raise their vodka glasses after 30 years have passed, Brown’s compelling play asks whether Philby betrayed his friend as well as his country, and how much the writer of The Third Man knew about Philby’s secret life.
Playing Graham Greene is Oliver Ford Davies, while Stephen Boxer takes on the role of Kim Philby. Karen Ascoe completes the cast as Rufa, Kim’s Russian wife.
The real Kim Philby was a British intelligence officer and a double agent for the Soviet Union.
In 1963, he was revealed to be a member of the infamous spy ring, The Cambridge Five, a group that passed information to the Soviet Union during World War II and in the early stages of the Cold War.
Philby attended Cambridge University’s Trinity College, where he studied history and economics, graduating in 1933.
Oliver Ford Davies won 'Best Actor' at the 1990 Olivier Awards for his performance in David Hare’s Racing Demon at the National Theatre.
His film and television credits include Christopher Robin, The Last Witness, Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace, Father Brown, Marple and, of course, Game of Thrones.
Boxer’s theatre credits include The Remains of the Day, Titus Andronicus, The Heresy of Love, The Taming Of The Shrew, Bartholomew Fair, Measure for Measure, Twelfth Night, The Herbal Bed, The White Devil, The Duchess Of Malfi, and Richard III, all for the RSC.
His most recent television credits include The Crown, Small Axe, David Elster in Humans, and Poldark.
Evening performances of A Splinter of Ice start at 7.30pm, and there's 2.30pm matinees on the Thursday and Saturday.
There's a BSL interpreted performance on Thursday, July 22 at 7.30pm, and a pre-show talk with Alastair Whatley, artistic director of Original Theatre Company, on Friday, July 23, at 6.30pm.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here