ALL of Theydon Bois is a stage and all its men and women are merely players – or they will be when a Shakespearean spectacular comes to town next month.

American actor and former Reduced Shakespeare Company funnyman Bryan Torfeh is to transform Theydon's village hall in Coppice Row in November as part of an interactive event exploring the playwright's life and works.

Mr Torfeh is flying all the way from his native Los Angeles for the show after a request by a friend who lives in nearby Woodford Green, and hopes the people of Essex will be left with a new appreciation of the great man on the night.

He said: “I'm really looking forward to it and it's great to come to Theydon Bois because the hall is a fantastic facility.

“The show is designed partly to break the academic sense of Shakespeare. So many people are put off by him when they're at school and they think there's no point going to watch one of his plays because they won't understand it.

“But what I try to say is Shakespeare was not an academic and neither were his actors or his audience. It's about trying to listen to language and sounds as well as the stories.

"I'll be getting people up on stage and having some fun, and I hope by the end of it people will have learnt something new about him.”

'Shakespeare and the Globe' is being held for one night only on Friday November 27, with doors opening at 7.30pm.

Tickets are £14 and are available from the Epping Bookshop on Epping High Street, or by calling the Box Office on 020 8504 5590.