A VARIED spring and summer season at The Haymarket in Basingstoke is headlined by the twisting psychological thriller The Devil at Midnight, Terence Rattigan’s poignant In Praise of Love and the hilarious She Stoops to Conquer.

There are also some one-night gems including Ballet Cymru’s interpretation of Beauty and the Beast, the intriguing Ballad of Martha Brown and passionate flamenco from Jaleo.

Talking Scarlet present In Praise of Love on April 1 and 2– an almost unbearably moving story of veiled emotions running deep, based on the true life situation of Rex Harrison’s wife Kay Kendall. Lydia is shielding her husband, Sebastian, from the knowledge that she is dying from leukaemia. But Sebastian does know and is seeking to spare her.

They return with the spine-tingling thriller The Devil at Midnight from May 1 to 3. Liz Burns, a psychoanalyst, receives an unexpected visitor – Nicki, a deeply troubled young woman who is visited in her dreams by a bearded devil who carries her away to a lonely, terrifying old house. As the details of Nicki’s past life emerge, clues mount up that point to Liz’s husband Jack being involved. Nicki is out for revenge and, with her brother Billy, she attacks the Burnses.

Creative Cow presents She Stoops To Conquer from May 7 to 10. Marlow stutters and quivers around educated young women and when his father sets him up with his old friend’s daughter, he is totally tongue-tied.

However, Miss Hardcastle’s appreciation for her misguided suitor soars and she takes on a rather different persona to win him over.

Meanwhile, playboy Tony Lumkin leads young Marlow to believe that Hardcastle’s country house is an inn and the man of the house the inn keeper.

Mayhem and confusion ensue in this classic comedy, and the mistakes and misunderstandings that accumulate create a heart-warming and hilarious evening.

Apollo Theatre Company presents Carrie’s War from May 22 to 24, bringing Nina Bawden’s classic novel to the stage in a feast of story-telling and nostalgia fit for the whole family.

When the Second World War air raids threaten their safety in the city, Carrie Willow and her brother Nick are evacuated to a small village in the Welsh countryside.

Billeted with the kind but timid Auntie Lou and her miserly brother, Mr Evans, the children quickly learn that this is a place unlike any they have ever known.

ID Plays Ltd presents Ladies in Retirement from June 12 to 14. Directed by Ian Dickens and starring Shirley Anne Field, Oliver Mellor, Kim Taylforth and Karen Ford, this taut melodrama is based on a famous murder at the end of the nineteenth century.

The production is full of Victorian thrills and suspense.

From July 11 to 13, don’t miss What the Ladybird Heard, based on the award-winning picture book by Julia Donaldson and Lydia Monks.

Hefty Hugh and Lanky Len have a cunning plan to steal the farmer’s fine prize cow. But they reckon without the tiniest, quietest creature of all: The Ladybird has a plan of her own!

Join the woolly sheep, the hairy hog, the fat red hen and the dainty dog in this brand new stage adaptation with live music, puppetry, plenty of audience participation and lots of laughs!

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