A STARTLING new piece of theatre that explores both the freedoms and the dark side of the Internet comes to The Point, Eastleigh, this month.

Brought to life by Pilot Theatre Company, who performed an award-winning version of Lord of the Flies at The Point, a/s/l? (chat room speak for age, sex and location) dives headlong into the world of chat rooms, where users can decide to tell the truth or not.

Richard Hurford was inspired to write the play after a conversation he had with some students.

"They talked about chat rooms and how long they spent there and how they played with identities and being different people," he explained.

"The role-play aspect seemed very theatrical to me. People are constructing new characters to play, creating people out of aspects of themselves, writing dialogue, developing whole life scenarios.

"In a way it struck me that every day, millions of little plays are being written in chat rooms and via personal messages."

You can see a/s/l? at The Point on Thursday, November 20, and Friday, November 21, at 7.45pm. For tickets and information call the box office on 023 8065 2333.