TRADITIONALLY the home of small-scale or experimental drama, the Studio at Lighthouse in Poole has another eclectic mix of performances for theatregoers this autumn and winter.

Dorset-based theatre company Dramatic Productions return from October 1-4 with Oscar Wilde’s classic comedy of manners, The Importance of Being Earnest, which stars Patricia Garwood and Tim Faraday who also directs.

Solfatara, on October 18, is performed in Spanish with English subtitles that have a subversive life of their own. Witty and fast-paced, a young couple’s frustrations explode with catastrophic honesty as a masked figure dares them to voice their true feelings.

Woman of Flowers, from Ringwood’s Forest Forge Theatre Company, is an innovative re-telling of an ancient Welsh myth where nothing is quite as it seems. Using a cross-art form approach, this beautiful piece of storytelling which visits Lighthouse on October 23 will feature live music, dance, video, integrated sign language and subtitles.

The highly acclaimed Arena Theatre perform Alan Bennett’s much loved, thought provoking modern classic The History Boys from November 12-15, telling the story of an unruly bunch of bright, funny sixth-form boys in the pursuit of sex, sport and a place at university.

Over a century after their first publication, Montague Rhodes James’ ‘Ghost Stories of an Antiquary’ remain the most admired supernatural tales in the English language.

James first performed them to friends at Christmas in King’s College, Cambridge. Now Nunkie Theatre Company has brought two of the eeriest and most entertaining tales back to life, in a gripping one-man show Oh, Whistle from December 16-17.

Love Letters Straight From Your Heart has moved audiences up and down the country since its debut performance at the Edinburgh Festival eight years ago, and comes to Poole on November 21.

n Call 0844 406 8666 or visit lighthousepoole.co.uk