This is the setting for John Marston's bawdy comedy of bad manners, The Dutch Courtesan which is coming Wimbledon Studio Theatre.

First performed in 1605, the play has many comic twists when Freevill, who is going out with Franceschina - the eponymous courtesan - gets engaged to the virtuous Beatrice.

Franceschina plots to have Freevill killed by his best - yet puritanical friend - Malheureux.

But nothing goes according to plan and the end is certainly a surprise.

In the role of Beatrice is Rachele Dryden-Smith, who is certainly not playing to type having recently starred as Cleopatra.

"This is a fantastic piece," she says of the Stuart comedy. "We spent three weeks in rehearsal starting with just talking about what the play meant to us. It is about relationships and how they are developed."

So what sort of character is Beatrice?

"She is very nave. Her husband has been playing around and lying to her and she is the last to know. It seems that everyone else knows what is going on except her.

"It is a really lovely role - she is exactly the sort of woman you would find in plays by Shakespeare or Chekhov."

Rachel knew from an early age she wanted to be an actress, as members of her family are in the profession.

"I went to art school where I learned about set design before going to the Guildford School of Acting. I had always acted in school shows and this is what I always wanted to do."

Since then Rachele has appeared in plays and one woman shows.

"I don't have a preference. It depends on the piece, although at the moment it's nice to be acting with other people.

"What makes this company so good is that it was started by a group of people who were at acting school together.

Character

"Beatrice has been a great character to work on and develop and she has changed so much since the first read-through we did. There have been quite a few things which have helped me to develop the character.

"When we got the costume that helped a lot and then as the other characters developed so Beatrice developed."

And according to Rachele her character will continue to change as the play progresses through it three week run.

"There is a lot of room for Beatrice to grow, and I certainly don't want to be doing the same thing every performance. When we first read the script we did not realise how funny the play was. Even though it's old, it's not old fashioned.

"Once you get past the language and the costume you realise how relevant the play and its main themes are."

After all this character development how does Rachele relate to her role?

"In some ways we're the same and in others we're completely different.

"The times I really relate to her are in the scenes she shares with her sisters. When she and her sister are giggling, talking about men and getting very giggly, it's so like my sister and I when we get together."

So what does the future hold for Rachele?

"I'd love to play Tess in Tess Of The D'Urbevilles, she is a really strong character. But one of the things I may be doing is a play about Dorothy Parker, with me as a younger version and my mother as the older Dorothy Parker."

q The Dutch Courtesan is now on at Wimbledon Studio Theatre. For more details or tickets call 020 8540 0362.