THE Shakespeare’s Globe touring production of Much Ado About Nothing will form one of the highlights of the autumn season at the Georgian Theatre Royal in Richmond.

Tickets are already available for the performance in September by this world-renowned company which will then continue its UK and European tour of one of Shakespeare’s liveliest comedies.

Warnock Kerr, chief executive of the theatre, is confident the production will be a hit with audiences.

“We are honoured to be hosting a company of this magnitude and reputation. Anyone who saw last year’s Globe production of King Lear will know that theatre really doesn’t come any better than this.

"We are expecting tickets to sell very quickly as audiences will have the added bonus of seeing this fabulous production in such a beautiful and unique location.”

In the play, Claudio loves Hero and Hero loves Claudio, and nothing seems capable of keeping them apart.

Claudio’s friend Benedick loves Beatrice and Beatrice, Benedick, But, because neither will admit it, nothing seems capable of bringing them together.

Only the intrigues of a resentful prince force Benedick to prove his love for Beatrice – by killing his best friend.

Driven along by a romance all the more charming for being in denial, Much Ado About Nothing is a miracle of comic and dramatic suspense and the bantering Beatrice and Benedick are two of Shakespeare’s wittiest, most endearing lovers.

It is one of Shakespeare’s most accessible plays and extremely popular with modern audiences.

The production is directed by Max Webster, designed by James Cotterill and the music is composed by John Barber.

The cast includes Aaron Anthony as Claudio, Christopher Harper as Benedick, Emma Pallant as Beatrice, Jessica Warbeck as Hero, Jim Kitson as Don Pedro, Robert Pickavance as Leonato, Joanne Howarth as Margaret/Borachio/Friar and Alex Mugnaioni as Don John.

Performances run from Wednesday to Saturday, September 2-5.

Tickets cost from £10 to £25 and are available from the box office on 01748 825252 or online at georgiantheatreroyal.co.uk. Evening shows start at 7.30pm and there are matinee performances at 2pm on September 3 and 5.

A new drama at the Georgian Theatre, Rhapsody in Green, will tell the story of the pioneer of "green" thinking, John Muir, the Scottish-American naturalist,.

The one-man play will be peformed on Saturday, June 12, at 7.30pm, based on the life and writings of the environmental philosopher and advocate for the preservation of wilderness in the US.

Actor Mike Maran plays the Rev Samuel Hall Young, remembing the life of his friend shortly after the great man’s death in 1914. Using a wigwam, sledge and a team of huskies, he tells the story of Muir, born in Dunbar, who emigrated to Wisconsin in the middle of the 19th century.

He fell in love with the wilderness and explored and wrote about the Californian Sierra Nevada and the Alaskan glaciers. His activism helped preserve areas of outstanding natural beauty. He founded The Sierra Club, a prominent American conservation organisation.

In later life, Muir devoted most of his time to the preservation of the Western forests and petitioned the US Congress for the National Park Bill that was passed in 1890, establishing Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks. His writing inspired readers, including presidents and congressmen, to take action and preserve the environment.

Tickets cost from £7-£20 from the box office on 01748 825252 or online at georgiantheatreroyal.co.uk.