A DUSTY old manuscript unearthed in a cupboard in a mysterious Hampshire Country house in 2006 is the subject of a new play which celebrates the 350th anniversary of the Royal Society and is at Poole Lighthouse this week.

Hanging Hooke by Take The Space is a gripping tale of intrigue and betrayal, which explores the captivating 17th century world of new science and discovery.

Christopher Wren loved him, Isaac Newton loathed him. Robert Hooke, the polymath genius of the 17th century, provoked intense loyalty, controversy, jealousy and hatred.

An ingenious man, undoubtedly the English Leonardo – and yet Robert Hooke was written out of history. Like Da Vinci, he was a fine artist, a brilliant scientist, an extraordinary engineer and an accomplished architect. He even designed a prototype flying machine. But after his death even his portrait strangely disappeared.

Then mysteriously in 2006, 300 years after his death, a dusty old manuscript was unearthed in a cupboard in a Hampshire country house; it was the long lost folio of Robert Hooke. Weeks later, an auction took place at Bonhams where the now famous papers, whose original owners remained anonymous, were expected to fetch £4m.

Hanging Hooke continues in the studio tonight.

Tickets: 0844 406 8666 or visit lighthousepoole.co.uk.