Hugo Weaving will record a “special performance” for a forthcoming stage adaptation of Solaris.

The stage version of Stanisław Lem’s iconic 1961 science fiction story, which will run in Edinburgh, Melbourne and London, is adapted by David Greig with direction by Matthew Lutton.

Weaving will appear in the show as the character of Gibarian, and will communicate with the protagonist Kris Kelvin via a pre-recorded video.

Lem’s novel, which has previously been adapted into two films since being published (one starring George Clooney), tells the story of three scientists on a space station orbiting a planet who start to display unusual behaviour when a psychologist comes aboard.

Greig said: “This novel, and our imagining, is a return to the future as it was conceived in the 60s – science fiction on stage is so often about tin foil, sliding doors and empty space whereas this is about mahogany bookcases, smoking cigarettes and spools of tape.”

The show opens in Melbourne before transferring to Edinburgh’s Lyceum Theatre, where it runs from 12 September to 5 October. It will then run at London’s Lyric Hammersmith Theatre from 10 October to 2 November.