AS YOU LIKE IT - Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory, Theatre Royal Winchester

THE Bard’s comic exploration of love packs an emotional punch when As You Like It is given a refreshing new slant by Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory.

The company breathes new life and humour into Shakespeare’s greatest work on the meaning of love with simple, elegant staging and some excellent performances.

Expelled from the city, Rosalind and Orlando – the one fleeing a tyrannous uncle, the other a murderous brother – rediscover each other in the Forest of Arden. But what awaits them in that Arcadian wilderness? Will they find true love, or just lose themselves? Are they merely players in a pastoral fantasy or do they have a real and rare opportunity to explore love free from all the normal constrictions of courtly convention and parental control?

The company returns following successful visits to Theatre Royal Winchester with Two Gentlemen of Verona and Much Ado About Nothing.

As You Like It marks both the company’s 15th season as well as Shakespeare’s 450th anniversary and runs from Tuesday to Saturday.

THREE LITTLE PIGS - Mayflower Theatre and Berry Theatre

THERE’S two helpings of Three Little Pigs today at two Hampshire venues.

Northern Ballet, currently at the Mayflower Theatre with A Midsummer Night’s Dream, bring their latest ballet especially for children to the stage for just two performances.

Three little pigs set out into the world. The first pig decides to build a house of straw, the second a house made of sticks and the third pig chooses to build a house of bricks. Then, along comes a very hungry wolf. The wolf begs each little pig to invite him in for dinner. When they refuse, he threatens to huff and puff and blow their houses down. Will any of the pigs be smart enough to escape the big bad wolf?

Bringing the timeless fairytale to life, Three Little Pigs is the perfect opportunity to introduce your little ones to the magic of live ballet, music and theatre.

There’s also an innovative re-telling of the classic, Three Little Pigs at The Berry Theatre today.

Danny has been delivered a story telling kit in a crate. All the props for the story are contained within ... or are they? Danny has to try against the odds to enact the story, without making a pig’s ear of it. He will recount the curly tale with lots of huff, puff and you’ll be blown away by his inimitable and hilarious physical comedy, circus skills and sheer pig-headedness.

DUMBSTRUCK - Fine Chisel, The Point, Eastleigh

FIONA is losing her voice. Mal is losing his faith. Ted is losing his marbles. Somewhere in the North Pacific, a lonely whale sings.

Armed with a stage full of instruments and a box of chalk, Fine Chisel’s award-winning actor-musicians conjure the rush of waves, the buzz of a 1960s pirate radio station and the far-from-dry world of marine mammal bioacoustics in Dumbstruck, the winner of the Fringe First Award in 2013.

See it at The Point on Thursday.