HAMPSHIRE pubgoers will be treated to a combination of beer and The Bard at selected venues throughout the summer.

Outdoor performances of two Shakespearean plays - Love's Labour's Lost and As You Like It - will be performed at Fuller's pubs across the south in July, August and September.

The Shakespeare in the Garden productions are being staged by the theatre company Open Bar.

A Fuller's spokesman said: "After the somewhat disrupted year we’ve had, we are all in need of a 'Summer of Love'.

"The two plays Open Bar are bringing to the stage are just that - full of comedy, romance and adventure."

This is the tenth consecutive year that Fuller’s customers will be able to enjoy alfresco productions of classic stories penned by Britain’s greatest playwright.

Last year Open Bar staged a socially-distanced performance of The Tempest at the Alice Lisle at Rockford, near Ringwood.

Open Bar's co-founders, Nicky Diss and Vicky Gaskin, said: "We’re used to making innovative theatre in unusual spaces – our shows are designed to work with their surroundings, not against them.

"As the audience gets more enthusiastic - and more lubricated - we use it to our advantage and feed off their energy.

"Thanks to Fuller’s we're in the extraordinary position of still being able to produce full-scale professional shows regardless of Covid-19 capacity restrictions."

Fuller’s Marketing Director, Jane Jones, added: “Our partnership with Open Bar has proved incredibly popular with our customers.

"The last year has been a real rollercoaster, and nowhere has that been felt more keenly than in the hospitality and performing arts sectors.

"Shakespeare in the Garden is the perfect experience we all deserve this summer."

This year will see 64 performances staged at 39 Fuller’s pubs between July 13 and September 16. Tickets can be purchased from fullers.co.uk/shakespeare.

Where to see the plays:

Love's Labour's Lost

The White Buck, Burley, July 20, 21; The Mayfly, Stockbridge, July 22, 23; The Hampshire Hog, Clanfield, July 30; The Cromwell Arms, Romsey, August 6,7; The Bear of Burton, Christchurch, August 9; The Chineham Arms, Basingstoke, August 10; the Fox and Hounds, Lyndhurst, August 18.

As You Like It

The Links Tavern, Liphook, August 18; The White Buck, Burley, August 23,24; The Alice Lisle, Rockford, near Ringwood, September 1; The New Forest Inn, Ashurst, September 2.