A NUMBER of art and drama events will be held at the Dodington Lodge in Whitchurch next month.

The venue will play host to a poetry show, an outdoor family theatre and Whitchurch's Little Theatre between July 15 and July 23.

First of all, performance poet Luke Wright will return to Whitchurch with his new show, 'The Ballad Seller' on Thursday, July 15 at 8pm.

Luke, brought to the town by The Inn Crowd and Arts Alive, has had sell out runs at the Edinburgh Fringe and tours as a support act for John Cooper Clarke.

Before papers, broadcasts or the internet, ballad sellers would hawk their doggerel on street corners for a penny. Scandalous affairs, grisly crimes, and colourful characters were brought to life in rhyming verse long before first tabloid was printed.

Luke has rewritten the very best of these stories for the modern ear, including a trip through the Drury Lane gin shops with the Boxing Baroness; filch oysters by the dozen with Dando, the celebrated gormandiser; and peer inside the restless mind of a lonely itinerant ballad seller.

Tickets are £7.50, including post performance chip butties.

The next show will be see the Fetch Theatre and Infamous Arts presenting 'Insect Safari', a fantastical performance that celebrates everything that creeps and crawls.

This show will be held on Sunday, July 18 at 2pm and then again at 4pm.

Attendees will be taken into a fantastical world of creatures that creep, crawl, fly, flutter and buzz, featuring incredible stories and facts from across the world in a show featuring amazing puppets, original music and lots of bugs.

Suitable for all ages, the show lasts about 50 minutes and tickets are £8 adults, £6 under 18s and £25 for a family of four.

Doors open 30 minutes before and seating is provided.

And finally, Whitchurch Little Theatre's annual summer tour is staying static in the town this year with three nights of two one-act comedies.

The group will be performing at The Dodington Lodge Hotel on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, July 21, 22 and 23. All shows are at 7.30pm.

The evening will begin with 'White Lies' by Richard James, which sees four old university chums meet up again after thirty years for a meal and chat.

Bea is concerned only with herself and her own success and does not care about the casual way she has hurt or used the others in the past and the other ladies decide it is time for payback.

But their little revenge stunt goes a bit further than they planned with hilarious results.

The cast is Katie Wainwright who also directs, Jenny Matthews, Karin Goddard, Sarah Radford and Gillie Peskett making her debut with the group.

After the interval it is 'Anger Management' by Robert Scott.

A group anger management session takes a turn for the worse when the facilitator suggests the participants re-enact the things that got them sent there in the first place.

Some very funny scenes follow played out by the cast of Vicky Chisholm, Rob Tovey who also directs, Clare Ruffell, Charlie Smith, Isaac Radford and Neil Ruffell.

Tickets at £5.

For tickets for all these shows visit www.dodingtonlodge.co.uk or call 01948 662539.

Tickets for the Little Theatre are also available at www.ticketsource.co.uk/whitchurchltg