IT might have sold out in minutes at the National Theatre but Worcestershire audiences still have the opportunity to see Tom Stoppard’s new play The Hard Problem.

The show will be beamed live via satellite into Pershore's Number 8 on Thursday, April 16.

The Hard Problem is the first play from Tom Stoppard, one of Britain’s most celebrated playwrights, since 2006’s Rock ‘N’ Roll, which played at the Royal Court.

It will be the last show to be directed by the National Theatre’s Head Nicholas Hytner before he leaves.

Hytner has famously worked with Alan Bennett on a number of plays at the theatre, including The History Boys (2004), but has never directed Stoppard there, until now.

The play tells the story of Hilary, a young psychology researcher at a brain science institute, who is nursing the question - where do psychology and biology meet?

If there is nothing but matter, what is consciousness?

This is ‘the hard problem’ of the play's title and it puts Hilary at odds with her colleagues.

Actress Olivia Vinall, who takes the lead role of Hilary, will be making her third appearance on stage at the National.

Having made her debut under Hytner's direction in Othello, she went on to star in Sam Mendes's acclaimed King Lear.

She will star alongside Jonathan Coy (Parade's End, Downton Abbey).

The show begins at 7pm and tickets are on sale from Number 8 box office on 01386 555488 priced at £14 and students £10.