Nicole Kidman returning to London stage in Michael Grandage-directed DNA play

LONDON – Nicole Kidman is returning to the London stage in a play about the woman who helped unlock the secrets of DNA.

Kidman will star in Anna Ziegler’s “Photograph 51,” a play about Rosalind Franklin, a British scientist who helped discover DNA’s distinctive double-helix structure.

The play will be directed by Michael Grandage, who also directs Kidman in the forthcoming film “Genius.”

Producers announced Thursday that the play will open in September at London’s Noel Coward Theatre. It marks the return of the Michael Grandage Company, which previously mounted a season of London plays with stars including Judi Dench, Daniel Radcliffe and Jude Law.

Kidman’s best-known stage appearance in London was in “The Blue Room” in 1998. One critic memorably dubbed her “pure theatrical Viagra.”