John Aubrey was probably the most entertaining writer of biography in English before Boswell wrote his life of Johnson, and this one-man show gives us a chance to meet the eccentric elderly scholar, so he can tell us some of the juiciest titbits he has acquired over the years.

Closely based on Patrick Garland’s play, this version has been adapted by Frank Veresi and Ken Groves and includes some highly interesting references to Titchfield itself. I’ve checked and can assure you they are all true, or as true as anything Aubrey wrote.

Kevin Fraser’s twinkling performance and the careful directing of Veresi keep him moving around Nick Hall’s nicely detailed set, preventing the piece becoming too static. Amidst the steady stream of amusing anecdotes one also gets a touching sense of Aubrey, evidently in somewhat reduced circumstances but happy enough, surrounded by his scribblings, head full of other lives.

Titchfield Festival Theatre, St Margaret Arts, St Margaret’s Lane, Titchfield.