THE Elizabethan adventurer, explorer and some time Dorset resident, Sir Walter Raleigh, one of history’s most charismatic characters, comes to Dorchester Corn Exchange on 6th November in a Dyad theatre production.

That Knave, Raleigh tells the astonishing highs and lows of his dramatic career. Andrew Margerison, who also wrote the play, plays a man who was the favourite of one monarch, Queen Elizabeth I, and fell fatally foul of another, James I.

Raleigh’s Dorset connection is Sherborne Castle. In 1592, the explorer, soldier, dandy and poet was granted a lease to Old Sherborne Castle by Queen Elizabeth I. But he found it difficult to renovate, so he built a new house, Sherborne Lodge (now Sherborne Castle), in the castle grounds, completed in 1594. Raleigh’s estate was forfeited after he fell out of favour with King James I, and the property was later purchased by Sir John Digby, whose family has owned it ever since.

That Knave, Raleigh is the latest play from Dyad, whose previous productions have included A Christmas Carol, Lady Susan, A Room of One’s Own, Christmas Gothic, Austen’s Women and Female Gothic). It is a story of astonishing highs and lows.

In a life spanning around 65 years, Raleigh achieved more than others might do in a hundred lifetimes. Over a decade in the tower and still he held power. His story ranges from the Huguenots to the Armada, from the New World to the horror of a public beheading in Old Palace Yard.

The final chapter of Raleigh’s life is perhaps the most daring, strange and heart-breaking. Margerison’s retelling details the hero’s fall from grace taken directly from historical records.ted by Rebecca Vaughan (A Christmas Carol).

That Knave, Raleigh is also at the Tacchi Morris Arts Centre at Taunton 7th November, Forest Arts at New Milton on 8th, and the Ustinov Studio at Bath Theatre Royal on 10th to 12th.