Plays and shows running in the south this month

EASTLEIGH's The Point stages the kids' show Grubs, Slugs and Boogie Bugs today. Suitable for children aged two to five, the Half Moon Young People's theatre production tells the story of Bud and his friends who live in a magical garden.

When the winter frost begins to thaw, a brand new world of bright and sunny opportunities begins to appear. The play will be performed with fully integrated British Sign Language.

For ticket information call 023 8065 2333.

A STORY of anguish and love set in Manchester takes centre stage at The Haymarket Theatre in Basingstoke tonight and tomorrow.

Written by Jonathan Harvey, Beautiful Thing is a moving drama set in the unlikeliest of places. Tickets from £10. Box office: 0870 770 1088.

THE Southsea Shakespeare Actors continue with their production of My Mother Said I Never Should at The Third Floor Arts Centre at Portsmouth's Central Library this evening, with the final performance tomorrow night.

Moving back and forth between the lives of four women, the play sets the enormous social changes of this century against the desire to love and be loved.

Tickets from £6. Box office: 023 9268 8070.

ONCE upon a time... The Nuffield Theatre in Southampton decided to create a fantastic stage show revolving around the fairytales conceived by the German Grimm brothers.

The Nuffield team responsible for the hugely successful production of Arabel's Raven have brought together an enchanting selection of tales including Snow White, Hansel and Gretel and The Elves and the Shoemaker for a magical show aimed at children between the ages of four and ten.

There are shows at 11am and 2pm today and tomorrow.

Tickets £6. Box office: 023 8067 1771.

AN ADAPTATION of Daphne Du Maurier's Jamaica Inn returned to its home stage last week. It will continue its run at the Salisbury Playhouse this evening and tomorrow night, before it embarks on a major UK tour.

Salisbury Playhouse's atmospheric production colourfully retells the classic and chilling story of Mary Yellan, who discovers mysterious goings-on in the dead of the night.

Tickets from £9. Box office: 01722 320333.

BEGINNING a three date stint at the Lighthouse in Poole on Monday is the world famous alternative RSC - the Reduced Shakespeare Company.

They perform their hit show The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged), in which they condense all of the bard's 37 plays into 97 minutes.

The results are hilarious. Highlights include a rap version of Othello and Titus Andronicus as a cooking programme. Prepare to be amazed on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday.

Tickets from £9.50. Box office: 01202 685222.

West End smash hit comedy Round the Horne... Revisited is coming to the end of its run at the Lighthouse in Poole. This theatre version of the 1960s radio show, which famously starred Kenneth Williams and Hugh Paddick, has been faithfully adapted for the stage by Brian Cooke, who is the last remaining writer of the original shows.

So to relive one of the most hilarious ever radio shows live on stage, the place to be is Poole, either tonight or tomorrow.

Tickets from £12. Box office: 01202 685222.

THE heart-tugging Map of the Heart takes to the stage at Salisbury Playhouse from Thursday, running until May 7.

This will be the first professional production of the show since it played in the West End's Globe Theatre in 1991.

Written by William Nicholson, the writer of hugely successful plays and films as diverse as Shadowlands, Gladiator, First Night and Nell, Map of the Heart penetrates to the core of a man in limbo between two lives and facing an uncertain future.

Box office: 01722 320333.