This October there’s a bit of treat for theatre goers in Stratford-upon-Avon. Not only is there the opening of the new RSC production of Twelfth Night, starring Richard Wilson and James Fleet, but also – on Saturday 24th October, at 3pm and 7.30pm, at The Shakespeare Institute – the chance to enjoy extracts from four plays by such writers as Anton Chekhov and Oscar Wilde.

Trinity Players (Holy Trinity’s own theatre company) has earned a fine reputation for staging extremely professional productions, not least Ursula Russell’s acclaimed adaptation of Anthony Trollope’s Barchester Towers earlier this year, which was a sumptuously costumed affair that played to packed audiences.

And the idea to put together a selection of extracts from plays that deal with encounters – and how they don’t always go as planned – is also Ursula’s, and one that will undoubtedly be an exciting couple of hours or so of comedy and drama.

The first of the four extracts, a fairly new two-hander actually called “Encounters”, has been devised by Ursula as something of an emotionally dramatic springboard for the rest of the evening’s offerings. Ursula and Tony Boyd-Williams star.

Secondly we go back to 1895, and Oscar Wilde’s, “The Importance of Being Earnest”, which changed the very foundations of theatrical comedy in Britain; it was also the summit of Wilde’s career as a playwright. The extract from this hugely influential and funny play is directed by Joy Leslie Gibson.

In the third extract we go back to 1933, and the meeting that took place between composers, Sir Edward Elgar and Frederick Delius, in the garden of Delius’s French home. “A Summer Garden” – which is both poignant and funny – is written and directed by Steve Newman, and featuring Steve Newman and Tony Boyd-Williams as Elgar and Delius.

Finally we get to see one of Anton Chekhov’s least performed one-act comedies from the late 1880s, “A Jubilee”, which has been updated (to the 21st century) and translated by Tim Raistrick, who also directs this delightful piece of comedy, which features, amongst others, Peter Cubitt.

Tickets for “Encounters” are available from Holy Trinity Church Shop & the Parish Centre, Old Town, Stratford-upon-Avon. 01789 266316.

Performances: 3pm & 7.30pm at The Shakespeare Institute, Church Street, Stratford-upon-Avon.