This is probably the most popular international touring version yet staged - over 35 countries on three continents have witnessed this intense and moving version of what might be the best play ever written.

25,000 people saw the play in China on the widest tour of any Shakespeare production in that country.

From the Costa Rican jungle to the castles of Norway, from Shanghai to Berlin and Jerusalem to Guatemala, this production has thrilled its audiences with a a dynamic mix of action, image, music and the profoundest poetry ever written for the stage.

The text itself is unique, weaving together the best of the first and second Quartos printed in the Bard's lifetime.

The score, by noted composer Thomas Johnson, is played and sung live by the performers, threading through the performance in the style of film music. Puppetry and masks are used alongside intense physical acting.

Director Paul Stebbings believes "the play is the thing" and presents a version shorn of pretentious interpretation, a clear story and a style that is not afraid of humour as well as tears.

As a result of the production's success TNT are the first company to present Shakespeare in English at the new National Theatre of China.

The production visits The Drill Hall for a single day on 16 December 2008, presenting you with a unique opportunity to see an extraordinary ensemble working at its peak combining theatre, movement and music in a single performance.