tephen Tompkinson has begun touring the stage premiere of recent play Stumped, weeks after a jury cleared him of inflicting grievous bodily hurt.

The DCI Banks star was accused of punching a drunk man within the head, who fell to the bottom and broke his cranium, after discovering him and a good friend consuming and making noise on the backside of his driveway within the early hours of May 30 2021.

The 57-year-old was cleared by a jury of inflicting GBH earlier this month at Newcastle Crown Court.

Tompkinson has now begun touring with the Original Theatre firm starring as Nobel prize winner and playwright Samuel Beckett reverse Andrew Lancel, who performs fellow Nobel prize winner and playwright Harold Pinter.

Beckett, who's greatest identified for Waiting For Godot, was a cricketer earlier than he grew to become a playwright, whereas Pinter described the game as “the greatest thing that God created on Earth”.

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Shomit Dutta’s manufacturing of Stumped, directed by Guy Unsworth, explores the friendship between the 2 playwrights and has begun a string of performances at Theatre Royal Bath, earlier than it strikes to Cambridge Arts Theatre in June and Hampstead Theatre in July.

Tompkinson and Lancel starred in a shorter digital model of the play which Original Theatre streamed on-line final yr.

Original Theatre’s creative director Alastair Whatley mentioned: “I’m delighted that Shomit Dutta’s new play Stumped will make the transition from a digital to live performance with a short tour and then a run at London’s Hampstead Theatre.

“Hampstead is just a short hop from Lord’s cricket ground where the show began its life last year.

“This once again highlights the potential for digital work to seed and feed live performance.

“After the success of our digital production, I cannot wait to finally see the show in front of live audiences in Bath, Cambridge and London.”

Earlier this month, a jury discovered Tompkinson not responsible of inflicting grievous bodily hurt after deliberating for just below two hours.

The actor beforehand advised chat present host Lorraine Kelly: “You have to wonder was it worth bringing (to court).

“They were trying to prove a punch that never happened. There was no evidence on my hand, on the guy’s face. He was just incredibly drunk and he fell.”