As celebrations mark the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death, a new play is challenging accepted belief about the famous playwright’s legacy, and are placing Titchfield firmly on his life’s map.

The Seven Ages of Shakespeare, written by Stewart Trotter, like Nuffield's Dedication, explores Shakespeare’s relationship with Henry Wriothesley, the Third Earl of Southampton.

Shakespeare’s relationship with the Earl, believed to have developed through Shakespeare’s mother, Mary Arden’s connection with Mary Brown, the Countess of Southampton, places them in the village of Titchfield where the Earl had his country home, Place House, known as Titchfield Abbey.

Kevin Fraser, Chairperson and Artistic Director at Titchfield Festival Theatre which is showing The Seven Ages of Shakespeare, commented “While most Shakespeare enthusiasts travel to Stratford and The Globe in London when following in his footsteps, a serious challenge is now being made to add Titchfield to this list.

These plays not only recognise, but feature Titchfield as a place in which he lived and worked for an interesting period of his life.”

The Seven Ages of Shakespeare, which continues until Sunday, explores the complete life of Shakespeare, played by Mike Burnside, through interpretation of Shakespeare’s sonnets. For the first time, the notoriously complex sonnets have been arranged in chronological order by Trotter, and combined with other factual and written evidence which is explored thoroughly in his blog, The Shakespeare Code, and has provided a timeline for the exploration of events in his life.

Tickets are available at titchfieldfestivaltheatre.com.