MAYFLOWER Theatre, Southampton under their new Mayflower Productions arm have announced the upcoming tour of their first shows ‘Here be Monsters’ and ‘The Santa Trap’.

These "exciting, explosive and adventurous children’s shows" have been created in collaboration with award winning writers Robin Belfield and Simon Slater.

Mayflower Theatre Chief Executive Michael Ockwell said, “Mayflower Productions (Southampton) Limited has been created as a separate company as a subsidiary of Mayflower Theatre Trust to support our education and outreach work. Having introduced more work for younger people into our programme and produced our own youth project for the past 3 years, we felt that the natural progression would be to create shows which we could both present on our own stage but also take to other theatres who are looking for quality work.

“This is a very exciting venture for a presenting theatre and I am pleased to be working with the two superb creative talents in Robin Belfield and Simon Slater in the creation of our first productions”.

Here Be Monsters goes into production at the end of August and will open at Theatre Royal, Winchester on 19 and 20 September. The Santa Trap will have its production period in October and will premiere at Mayflower Theatre on Sunday 15 November with a Christmas season from 19 December to 3 January at the newly refurbished New Theatre Royal in Portsmouth.

Based on the picture books by Jonathan Emmett and Poly Bernatene and performed by actor-musicians, Here Be Monsters and The Santa Trap are perfect as an introduction to the theatre for children. They have a performance time of approximately an hour and are filled with action, music and adventure.

Here be Monsters stars the villainous Captain Cut-Throat and his fearsome crew as they set sail through monster-infested waters in search of a mysterious island crammed with jewels and gem stones. The Captain is certain that monsters simply don't exist, but as they near the island and the mist closes in around them, his crew are not so sure.

The Santa Trap is all about Bradley Bartleby. Bradley is BAD! So bad that he plans to trap Santa Claus and steal all his presents! Will Santa be able to escape this awful ambush? Will Bradley succeed in ruining Christmas? Will someone explain why an elephant is roaming around the garden?

With guillotines, tigers and a houseful of dynamite, young audiences will adore this action-packed, explosively funny new musical show!

Local tour dates for Here Be Monsters include:

19 and 20 September 2015 Box office on 01962 840440

Theatre Royal, Winchester Website: www.theatreroyalwinchester.co.uk

17 October 2015 Box Office: 01256 844244

Haymarket, Basingstoke Website: www.anvilarts.org.uk

15 November Box Office: 02380 711811

Mayflower Theatre, Southampton Website: www.mayflower.org.uk

Local tour dates for The Santa Trap include:

15 November Box Office: 02380 711811

Mayflower Theatre, Southampton Website: www.mayflower.org.uk

19th December 2015 – 3rd January 2016 Box Office: 023 92649000

New Theatre Royal, Portsmouth Website: www.newtheatreroyal.com