A TOP director brings his magic touch to the Mill Studio, Guildford, with a new play revealing the truth behind Shakespeare's women.

Dangerous When Cornered runs on Friday and Saturday, June 11 and 12, and features a cast headed by Hollyoaks' star Fiona Mollison.

The play is David Gilmore's tribute to the witches, queens, good wives and femmes fatales found within Shakespeare.

Using scenes from the plays plus contemporary accounts - ranging from the humanist Cornelius Agrippa to Erasmus, who praised the glory of English womanhood - it is a fast-moving, fun investigation into whether we really understand Elizabethan women.

David Gilmore has directed more than a dozen West End productions, with Grease appearing all around the world.

His production Defending the Caveman won an Olivier Award for Best Entertainment.

Fiona (pictured), known as femme fatale, Victoria, in Hollyoaks, who famously seduced her son's best friend, was seen at the Yvonne Arnaud last year in Alan Ayckbourn's Snake in the Grass.

Her co-stars are Joanna McCallum and Michael Bertenshaw, an experienced actor who was also keyboard player with punk band Tenpole Tudor.

Tickets for Dangerous When Cornered cost £10 (£5 student standby) and are available from the box office on 01483 440000.