FAMILY theatre and comedy are at the heart of The Berry Theatre’s Spring 2014 season.

From puppet shows to stand up, there’s something on offer for all ages.

The comedy season kicks off early in the new year when satirical comedians Punt and Dennis pay a visit to the Hedge End venue.

It’s mid-winter. The roads are icy. The gritting lorries are out in force, the pavements are slippery and the news broadcasts are full of people telling viewers to “send us your pictures of snow”. Everyone has a cold. The boiler has broken down again and the gas bill is due.

The AA is busy advising comedians “not to tour the country unless it is absolutely essential”.

Despite all this, Punt and Dennis are Ploughing On Regardless and will be bringing their new show of that name to The Berry Theatre on January 6.

Later in the season and following his sell-out show at The Point last year, Josh Widdicombe will be appearing at the venue on March 28 with his show Incidentally.

The delights of family meals will be celebrated in a fun show coming to The Berry Theatre on February 15 as part of the family theatre season. Tea Time is a wonderfully silly and colourful celebration of meal times in words, song, music and dance, inspired by the games we all play around the kitchen table.

Puppet show Nobody Rides the Unicorn, on February 19, includes superbly crafted puppets, original live music, sound effects and moments of unexpected magic, blended to tell this touching tale based on the book by Adrian Mitchell.

Bernard’s got a problem. He’s found a monster in the back garden and his mum and dad are just too busy to notice. So Bernard tries to befriend the monster... and that doesn’t go quite to plan. Loved by children, adults and monsters for over 30 years, David McKee’s iconic picture- book Not Now, Bernard will be vividly brought to life by Unicorn Theatre on March 15.

For adults, inspired by the works of Edgar Allan Poe and Alfred Hitchcock, Ernest and the Pale Moon on April 25 is a spine-chilling tale of obsession and murder from Les Enfants Terribles, the award-winning Theatre Company behind shows The Trench and The Terrible Infants. Ernest spends his days watching the beautiful young woman who lives in the apartment opposite. When he sees her with another man he is thrown into a jealous rage and driven to murder, though all is not what it may at first seem and slowly Ernest’s guilt sends him on a spiralling descent into madness.

Budding young actors from around Hedge End will be treading the boards from March 7 to 9 as part of a national festival.

The Berry Youth Theatre has been chosen to take part in the National Theatre’s project Connections and will be performing Matt Hartley’s gripping new play Horizon.

Members of the Berry Youth Theatre will be back on stage later in March as part of the Let’s Play: Double Bill. Two oneact plays Kaspar The Wild and Postcards From The Big Blue are being performed by the youth theatre and two local primary schools, Kings Copse and Shamblehurst.