LOVE and tragedy come to the Theatre Royal Winchester this week, courtesy of Thomas Hardy's Far from the Madding Crowd.

The exciting new adaptation of the Dorset love story, by the award winning Middle Ground Theatre Company, follows the joyous and tragic loves of the spirited character, Bathsheba Everdine.

Starring Stephen McGann, Frazer Hines and Kevin Pallister - better known for the ITV soap Emmerdale - the story about a battle for love will be brought to life.

Played out on a spectacular period set and interlaced with theatrical extras including live music, country dancing scenes, humour and rural rambling Wessex songs, Far from the Madding Crowd is an intensely human story of a woman who is torn between the love of three very different men.

But who will she choose - the wealthy landowner William Boldwood, the dashing Sergent Troy or the shepherd Gabriel Oak?

8 - 19 July, Theatre Royal, Winchester. Tickets: from £10. Box office: 01962 840440.