SPIN-DOCTORS seem like a very modern phenomenon. But are these image-managers really a product of contemporary, brand-heavy, society?

The Misanthrope, by Moliere, one of the great French playwrights of the seventeenth century, would suggest otherwise.

The play is a witty and penetrating investigation into a society which seems to burdened with many of the ills we suffer today.

If you want to make it to the top, insincerity and hypocrisy are essential and you mustn't shy away from stabbing your friends in the back.

The titular hero of the play, Aceste, despises this fickleness and insists the truth should be spoken, regardless of the consequences - an approach which, unsurprisingly, causes him a few problems.

Ironically, despite his contempt for the hypocrisies of everyday life, he is besotted by a woman who embodies these qualities, the heartless coquette Celimene.

The play has been translated into contemporary English by Tony Harrison, making the play accessible to today's audiences while retaining the spirit and humour of Moliere's original work

Theatre Royal, Winchester, October 15-19. Box office: 01962 840440.