A touring theatre group has announced it will perform two different shows at open air venues across the county next summer.

Maidstone-based Changeling Theatre which staged its 20th anniversary tour last year thanks to a gofundme campaign with A Midsummer Night's Dream, will perform Shakespeare's Othello and Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest.

The Shakespearean play was chosen by voters at last year's sell-out shows, while Wilde's satirical masterpiece was added, due to the demand from a large number of venues for 2022.

The registered charity stages its shows at sites such as gardens, castles, stately homes and even on a beach, though venues for next summer will be announced in the New Year.

Changeling’s creative director Rob Forknall said: “I’ve been wanting to direct Othello for a long time and now the time is right. Our audiences clearly agree as this is their choice this year and we couldn’t be more delighted. Betrayal, jealousy, class war – it’s all there in this intense and brilliant play. Fans of crime dramas and Scandi noir will love it.”

Shakespeare's thriller features a recently married man of rank, who has enjoyed a glittering military career and has a successful future ahead of him. But Othello has enemies - enemies that will do anything to bring him down. One of them, Iago, devises a sinister plot to undermine Othello’s reputation, tricking him into jealous rage that ends in tragedy. Love, jealousy, deception, murder.

The Importance of Being Earnest sees two eligible bachelors, Jack and Algy in love with two women who conveniently claim to only love men named Ernest - Jack and Algy create alter egos called Ernest to win their hearts.

Rob added: “We last toured Wilde’s masterpiece in 2006 and it was a huge hit with our audience. This year our venues wanted us to offer a comedy alongside Othello, so we felt it time to revive this hilarious classic.”

The tour will run from Friday, July 1 until Sunday, August 21.

Dates and venues will be released in February, with tickets on sale in March. Click here to find out more.