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Benedict Cumberbatch to headline Charleston Festival

Steve Schofield Benedict CumberbatchSteve Schofield
Benedict Cumberbatch will read TS Elliot's The Waste Land at Charleston in Sussex

Hollywood actor Benedict Cumberbatch is to headline an arts festival where he will read one of the most important poems of the 20th Century.

Cumberbatch will read TS Eliot's The Waste Land at the Charleston Festival, in Firle, near Lewes, East Sussex.

Organisers of the event, which will be held in May, say the rendition will be a "world exclusive".

Other speakers include fashion designer Zandra Rhodes and best-selling author Monica Ali.

The festival celebrates art, poetry, spoken and written word, with a nod to Charleston's history as a gathering location for radical 20th Century writers and thinkers.

James Bellorini People at Charleston houseJames Bellorini
Charleston in Firle near Lewes, East Sussex, is home to painters Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant

Organisers say this year's festival will feature "events for children, young teens and their families" for the first time.

Cumberbatch's latest film, The Power of the Dog, is widely tipped for success at the Oscars in March.

The festival is set to take place between 19 and 29 May and a full programme is to be announced in February.

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