A COMPELLING new drama telling the story of William Shakespeare and the 3rd Earl of Southampton makes its world premiere in the city next week.

Historians and theatre enthusiasts will gather for the opening of Dedication, which follows centuries of conjecture over the pair, at Nuffield on Tuesday.

Previews have already opened for the play, set in the powder keg of sex, politics and power in Elizabethan England.

Patron? Collaborator? Employer? Voyeur? Lover?

William Shakespeare is on trial. Questioned about his relationship with the 3rd Earl of Southampton. What exactly did happen between them?

The evidence: Tender poems. Financial dependency. Attempted revolution. A charge of treason.

As part of the Southampton’s Shakespeare400 celebrations, Elizabethan dancers from Nuffield Theatre joined bowlers at the world’s oldest bowling green for an impromptu dance and to celebrate Dedication, a brand new play dramatising Shakespeare’s mysterious relationship with his patron, the 3rd Earl of Southampton, which is premiering at the Nuffield Theatre in Southampton until the 8 October.

Dedication - Shakespeare and Southampton, written by Nick Dear puts Shakespeare on trial where he is questioned about his relationship with the 3rd Earl of Southampton. Centuries of conjecture

Tom McKay plays Shakespeare and Tom Rhys-Harries plays Henry Wriothesley, the 3rd Earl of Southampton in Nick Dear's Dedication, directed by Sam Hodges.

Part of Southampton's Shakespeare400 celebrations, marking 400 years since the death of The Bard, runs until October 8.

Tickets are available from 023 8067 1771 or nuffieldtheatre.co.uk