A PACKED autumn season of performances and events for everyone to enjoy has been unveiled by Theatre Royal Winchester.

Young theatregoers can revel in classic The Gruffalo (October 6 to 8), the exuberant Stick Man (October 13 to 15) and inventive The Emperor’s New Clothes (October 19)., as well as Michael Morpugo’s thrilling King Arthur (October 22).

Dance lovers will love Joli Vyann’s Imbalance (September 19), a dance, circus and acrobatic exploration of digital obsession, as well as the witty Ladies and Gentlemen (October 18) and Charge (November 10 and 11), exploring energy.

Household favourites Jason Donovan (October 27), Nik Kershaw (September 23) and 10cc’s Graham Gouldman (October 17) are musical highlights. They are joined by bohemian baroque quartet Red Priest ( October 10) presenting Vivaldi and Handel with a contemporary twist. Ex lead singer of Bellowhead, Jon Boden (November 12) also visits. The voice of BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing Lance Ellington will be singing Broadway hits (December 6) and Wayne Ellington pays tribute to Nat King Cole on November 22.

Opera fans are in for a treat with two hilarious one-act operas in one evening of the Tales of Offenbach on October 11. For jazz lovers, Belgarum Big Band (September 24) and The Spitfire Sisters (October 28) return.

Some of the UK’s top stand-up comedians take to the stage, including Andy Parsons (December 15), Mark Watson (October 7) and Ed Byrne (October 19 and 20). Wisdom of a Fool (September 30), reveals the extraordinary talent of the much–loved 1950s British stage and screen star while Noel Coward’s classic comedy Private Lives runs from October 30.

There’s musical comedy with the Olivier Award winning Showstopper! The Improvised Musical returning (September 28) and a re-imagining of Jane Austen’s characters in Promise and Promiscuity (October 16). Enjoy wit and wordplay in At The Drop of a Hippopotamus on September 27.

Britain’s Got Talent finalists Circus of Horrors bring new show Voodoo (November 21) and elephant conservationist and Saba Douglas-Hamilton will be talking about her life in Kenya (November 23). Shakespeare lovers can enjoy an urban re-telling of The Tempest (October 12) and a double bill of new plays inspired by the Bard in Double Will (September 21)

The world premiere tour of Sherlock Holmes and the Crimson Cobbles charges in on October 25 and 26 and enjoy a new adaptation of Sophocles’ Antigone (November 20). Jane Austen fans can take a promenade through the city in Austen Undone on September 16 and 17, the same dates as Theatre Royal Winchester’s open weekend.

The season ends with family pantomime Peter Pan from December 5.Tickets: theatreroyalwinchester.co.uk or 01962 840 440.