The actor will play a role in the latest play written by James Graham, who has previously written shows such as Sherwood and Dear England.

The play will also be the opening performance of the 2025 Edinburgh International Festival.

It will premier on Friday, 1 August, and run until Saturday, 9 August, with previews at the festival on Wednesday, 30 July, and Thursday, 31 July, as well as at Dundee Rep Theatre in late July.

Make It Happen is set in Edinburgh and sees Cox take on the role of Adam Smith, the ghost of Scotland’s fiscal past, the Herald reports.

James Graham said: “Like many writers, an Edinburgh stage is the first place ever I dared put a full play in front of an audience. To be invited to join the prestigious Edinburgh International Festival programme this summer is an honour and a thrill.

“And to work with the National Theatre of Scotland, the Dundee Rep and, of course, Brian Cox, whom I’ve been desperate to write for as long as I can remember.

“We still live in the long shadow of the 2008 financial crash and our inability to reset from that inheritance and its divisive legacies, so it feels right to be interrogating it artistically. But we hope to do so in a show full of music and story, larger-than-life characters, cheeky humour and some ghosts from Scotland’s centuries’ long past thrown in as well.”

Mr Cox added: “I’m excited to be doing a play written by James Graham, who is such a great writer. It’s been a long time since I played in Scotland – it’s good to be back.”