THANK New Zealand for Kevin Tomlinson's new show, Seven Ages.

"I came across Jacques' famous speech from As You Like It when I was touring and saw the Seven Ages quote on a coffee table. It was just a quote that somebody was working on and up until then my show has been an hour long," says Kevin.

"Just a week before I was due to go to New Zealand, they rang and asked me, Where do you want the interval?', and I said, It's only an hour'. No,' they said, it's a two-hour show'. So I had to do something quickly, and it was a chance that stared me in the face."

In a trice, Kevin Tomlinson: Seven Ages was born, and next week he performs his improvised show for three nights at York Theatre Royal, returning him to the city where he taught improvisation skills to Youth Theatre Yorkshire youngsters in the late 1990s.

Kevin uses Shakespeare's seven stages of life from As You Like It as his starting point, taking true stories from his own life and those of his audience to explore the Seven Ages via the use of comic half-masks, improvisation and storytelling.

"I guess I'm at the fourth stage," says Kevin when Yorktwenty4seven asks him to pinpoint his life stage on Shakespeare's chart. "In As You Like It, it's work, the soldier, trying to find out what you role is in life and love, and for me it's coupled with stage three: the lover!"

Kevin Tomlinson: Seven Ages, The Studio, York Theatre Royal, October 26 to 28, 7.45pm. Box office: 01904 623568.