A RARE opportunity to enjoy the sonnets is being offered by the Company of Ten with next week’s production Shakespeare and Love – Sonnets in the Studio, as part of the RSC’s national Open Stages project.

The sonnets explore the timeless issues of love, lust, sexual ambiguity, jealousy, friendship and the passing of time, and speak as directly today as they did to readers in 1609 when they were originally published.

Said director Terry Prince: “As we were putting together our current theatre season, the idea was proposed that we take a look at Shakespeare’s Sonnets to see if we could devise ways to present them in performance mode.

“We considered various research commentaries and explored a range of presentation possibilities but decided early on that we did not want simply to stage readings of the sonnets.

“So we looked at ways in which we might dramatise a selection of them and focus on aspects that would appeal to an audience perhaps unfamiliar with them, or throw new light on them for those who knew them well.”

He added: “The task we set ourselves was to be entertaining, playful, maybe irreverent even, and informative. Above all was our belief in the beauty and artistry of the sonnets’ content and construction and their relevance to contemporary life.”

Shakespeare and Love – Sonnets in the Studio runs from this Monday, March 5, at the Abbey Theatre Studio, until Saturday, March 10. Tickets are available from the box office on 01727 857861 or online at www.abbeytheatre.org.uk