Wanted: An audience with a wardrobe housing stout walking shoes and clothes to suit all weather conditions. Open-minded individuals keen to experience a different kind of theatre and possibly interact with the show. The intention to either arrive with a bunch of friends or indulge in the art of making new ones.

Those that can answer in the affirmative to all three will be ideal candidates for the sonnet walks that are being staged by the Chipping Norton Theatre on August 20 and 21. It’s a format that has already been successfully used in New York, Liverpool and Cornwall and encourages its audience to be a tourist in their own towns.

Theatre-goers initially meet at the theatre at a pre-booked time on one of the dates above. A printed guide and a flower to wear for identification purposes on a lapel are then issued. Using ingenuity and following clues, groups then follow a prepared route around the town on a circular circuit that takes in both public and private destinations.

At intervals throughout the route, the group are surprised, serenaded and ultimately, it is hoped, entertained by performers singing or reading sonnets.

Some of the finest poetry is promised — from Shakespeare to Rossetti, Byron to Browning.

Katy Double, arts assistant at The Theatre has been involved in bringing the walks to the town in a joint production with the London-based group Scary Little Girls.

Katy says Chipping Norton is ideal as a venue for the sonnet walks because it’s a fascinating town with layers of history.

The actual locations for the venues where performers will be stationed are being kept a closely guarded secret.

A sneaky preview of just one of them, however, involves clambering over a five-bar gate and trying not to get something nasty on the shoe while standing on a piece of England’s green and pleasant land (rest assured for the actual days all venues will be easily accessible). Katy says they were spoilt for choice in the choice of venues.

“Did you know, for instance that Chipping Norton is the birthplace of Captain James Hind, the highwayman, one of the highest points in the Cotswolds and has all the glamour of the old recording studios where the Bay City Rollers recorded their albums?”

For the Cornish walks, the prose relied on extracts from Daphne Du Maurier novels.

For the Chipping Norton walks, the choice of the 14-line sonnet is an excellent means for the performers to get their messages about the town across effectively.

Katy says: “The Italian sonnet form traditionally uses eight lines followed by six lines which allows for two points of view to be given. While Shakespeare’s habit of using three quartets followed by a rhyming couplet is traditionally used to build an argument to promote one point of view.”.

Rebecca Mordan, director for Scary Little Girls, has previously worked with the Theatre on workshops based on female empowerment and breaking down social barriers.

Katy says: “In the same sort of way, we’re hoping the sonnet walks will not only provide an interesting 90-minute walk around a historic town but challenge the barriers of perception and get people to look at the town they live in, in a new light.”

lAudience groups for the sonnet walks leave at 15-minute in the afternoon and evening. Tickets cost £10. Contact the box office on 01608 642350 or go to chippingnortontheatre.com.