AS part of the national Shakespeare400 celebrations, Southampton's leading theatres are working together to present Shakespeare in the City.

The event, a joint initiative between Mayflower Theatre and Nuffield theatres, aims to give audiences the opportunity of exploring Shakespeare the man, his work and his connections with the city of Southampton this autumn.

The Shakespeare in the City season starts with a brand new play, Dedication; Shakespeare and Southampton that premieres at Nuffield Theatre from September 9 and runs to October 8. This new play written by Southampton’s award–winning playwright Nick Dear (Frankenstein with Benedict Cumberbatch, National Theatre; The Art of Success, RSC, Olivier Nomination) sees Shakespeare on trial and questioned about his relationship with the Earl of Southampton. The Earl of Southampton lived at Titchfield and was Shakespeare’s patron.

Directed by Nuffield’s Director Samuel Hodges and designed by Alex Lowde (Tis Pity She’s A Whore, Shakespeare’s Globe), the audience will be placed at the centre of the action in the powder keg of sex, politics and power of Elizabethan England.

Pre show walking guided tours of the city of Southampton are also available, highlighting the locations and characters that inspired the Bard.

Mayflower Theatre present Welsh National Opera productions of Tchaikowsky’s The Merchant of Venice, Verdi’s Macbeth and Cole Porter’s Kiss Me Kate from November 1 to 5.

Andre’s Tchaikowsky’s The Merchant of Venice, is composed by a Jewish man who had endured life in the Warsaw ghetto, making this opera a powerful and serious attack on prejudice. Oliver Mears’ gripping modern day production of Verdi’s Macbeth, brings Verdi’s brooding and ferocious opera urgently to life and Cole Porter’s classic musical comically intertwines the on and off stage antics of Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew.

A special price deal of buying full priced ticket and getting a second half price is available to encourage audiences to visit both theatres.

Tickets for Shakespeare in the City events are available online at nuffieldtheatre.co.uk or mayflower.org.uk.