TO be forgotten is worse than to be dead, says one of the characters in the play, "Picasso’s Women".

However, to be Picasso's girlfriend was much worse than that, it seems, judging from the evidence.

This challenging play is coming to Ledbury's Market Theatre on Saturday, November 12, from 7.30pm, and the plot will bring to life four women whose relationships with the painter were as torturous as the portraits he made of them

So how bad was Picasso as a beau?

In a Telegraph article of 2009, the arts journalist Mark Hudson wrote: "No one used and abused his women quite like the greatest artist of the 20th century, Pablo Picasso.

"Picasso's sense that he could do what he liked with absolutely anyone increased as his fame and wealth grew."

Indeed, the ageing Picasso told one of his young mistresses, helpfully: "Women are machines for suffering.

"For me, there are two kinds of women: goddesses and doormats."

Needless to say, for all his many accolades, Picasso never won the European Feminist of the Year Award.

A spokesman for "Picasso's Women" said: "Brought back to life to ensure that their stories are not forgotten, four women in Picasso’s life - Fernande Olivier, Olga Kokhlova, Marie-Thérèse Walter, and Jacqueline Rocque - used and often abused by the great artist, take to the stage with this touring new production.

"It's a challenging work of theatre and an evening where the women deliver their devastating verdicts on Picasso in forthright and uncompromising terms."

About time too, some might add.

Tickets on, 07967 517125.