Oh Clarence! The Cheriton Players

FOLLOWING December’s classic mystery drama, An Inspector Calls, Cheriton Players have chosen to revert to humour for their spring/summer production and audiences will be introduced to the quaint and quirky characters that make up the cast of Oh Clarence!

Meet dreamy Clarence, 9th Earl of Emsworth and his equally dotty heir Freddie, world- (and brother-) weary sister Lady Connie, Beach the loyal but usually tipsy butler, arch rival in the pig-andpumpkin stakes Sir Gregory Parsloe-Parsloe, his jodhpur-clad niece Jennifer (rides like Diana, according to Freddie) and other assorted odd characters all come together at Blandings Castle for a very comedic and hectic weekend of misunderstandings.

And then of course, there’s Clarence’s soulmate The Empress, a hefty porker who is the only creature he has any real understanding of, and with.

Much mirth and jollity will be the order of the day for the four-night run from Wednesday to Saturday.

Volpone - Titchfield Festival Theatre

TITCHFIELD Festival Theatre at St Margaret’s Lane has a raked stage and a Venetian setting for next week’s classical foxy tale, Volpone.

The miser, Volpone, and his wily servant, Mosca run a brilliant scam convincing a series of wealthy and corrupt men that Volpone is deathly ill and ready to name each of them as his sole heir; to guarantee the supposed inheritance, each victim of the scam showers Volpone with expensive gifts. Greed and lust, disguises, a faked death, double and triplecrossing, music, a hermaphrodite, a eunuch and fools of all kinds.

What more could one ask for?

Volpone runs from Wednesday to Saturday June 21.

  • Call 01329 556156 for tickets.

Oliver! - Footlights Youth Theatre

THE Daily Echo Curtain Call the European Arts Company.

Award Production of the Year winners, Footlights Youth Theatre, are taking to the stage again for their forthcoming production of Oliver! at the Nuffield.

Lionel Bart’s musical adaptation of the Dickens classic has been considered a definitive piece of musical theatre since its creation 60 years ago. With an infectious score, including Food Glorious Food, Consider Yourself, Who Will Buy and I’d Do Anything, and a host of colourful characters, including Fagin, Mr Bumble and The Artful Dodger, this show is guaranteed to please the whole family!

This will be the final production from the current Footlights team and runs from Wednesday to Saturday.