Most famous for his brilliant portrayal of Spiros, the blue-eyed Dionysus in Shirley Valentine, Tom Conti is set to star in Tom Stoppard's The Real Thing at the Theatre Royal, Brighton.

He plays Henry, a philandering, highly successful playwright engaged in the process of writing about love and infidelity.

When he leaves his first wife Charlotte for actress Annie, he begins a relationship he believes is "the real thing".

Is it art imitating life or life imitating art?

These are the questions posed by the characters as they attempt to unravel their sticky romantic entanglements.

The Real Thing is set in the Eighties, featuring a soundtrack of Sixties classics.

With charcteristic wit and wisdom, Stoppard paints a painfully funny picture of modern love and marriage.

"It is funny and very accessible," says Conti. "People sometimes get put off seeing Tom Stoppard's plays as they can be complicated but this is not.

He wrote it 20 years ago and it has won many awards."

Considered one of Britain's greatest playwrights, Stoppard's award-winning work includes Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead, Jumpers, Travesties and Arcadia. He won a Best Screenplay Oscar for Shakespeare In Love, starring Gwyneth Paltrow.

Starts 7.45pm (Thurs and Sat mats 2.30pm) Tickets cost £15 - £24. Call 08700 606 650.