Mrs Mantell's Tooth and the Gideon Mantell-Lyell Legacy

Hastings Museum and Art Gallery opens a new series on Sunday 1 November with Mrs Mantell's Tooth, a performance that kicks off a month-long look at the relationship between Gideon and Mary Ann Mantell of Lewes and the geologist Charles Lyell, who's widely called the father of geology. The Mantells found the first fossils that would be named Iguanodon in Sussex — only the second dinosaur ever formally identified — and worked with Lyell on the findings. The whole thing is presented by the museum in collaboration with Theatre Rotto, with support from the Geologists' Association.

The performance itself is 55 minutes long, directed by Samuel Dutton. It's told from the perspective of an older Mary Ann Mantell, and the cast is a mixed bag of people, puppets and toy theatre, all staged as a Victorian piece with a huge dinosaur on set. Before the show, there are talks from palaeontologist Philip Hadland and geologist Keith Leech, so you'll have the context in hand before the performance starts.

That's just the beginning, though. Mrs Mantell's Tooth is the first of four events that month, and the other three are fully participatory workshops in illustration, puppet making and performance, all led by Hadland and Leech. Hadland's the palaeontologist who found the footprints of the last dinosaurs to roam the UK at Folkestone, so he's not just talking from a textbook. The whole series runs from 1 to 29 November, so if you're into the puppet-making or the illustration side of things, there's plenty to get stuck into after the opening show.

The nineteenth century is the starting point for the whole thing: a time of massive change across society, from the industrial revolution to art and scientific invention, with geology still a relatively new science. It's a good way to see how the Mantells fit into that world. The performance starts at 2pm on Sunday 1 November at Hastings Museum and Art Gallery, Bohemia Road, Hastings, TN34 1ET. Tickets are £18 for adults and £14 for children and concessions.