Atom Egoyan is to direct his wife and actor Arsinée Khanjian in British playwright Martin Crimp’s Cruel and Tender for Canadian Stage in February 2012.

Egoyan, who started is career in live theater before moving to film, will direct the stage play about a woman who eagerly waits her husband’s return from battle, only to discover on his return disturbing motives for war.

Based on Sophocles’ The Trachiniae, Egoyan’s adaptation of the Crimp play will include performances by Daniel Kash, Nigel Shawn Williams, Jeff Lillico, Abena Malika, Cara Ricketts, Brenda Robins and Sarah Wilson.