JUNE 04, BATH: When eminent theatre director Sir Peter Hall put together a company and a package of plays for a summer residency at Bath Theatre Royal last year it was a gamble.

But it paid off, the audiences flocked in and a delighted Sir Peter, together with theatre director Danny Moar, has announced a new nine-week Peter Hall season for 2004.

This year's foursome begins at the end of June with George Bernard Shaw's Man and Superman, one of Shaw's best battles of the sexes, which will include a rarely performed Don Juan in hell dream sequence.

The legendary lover appears in his own right next in Simon Nye's Don Juan, based on the original 17th century comedy by Molire.

Then there is a world premiere of Timberlake Wertenbaker's Galileo's Daughter, which deals with the powerful relationship between the great visionary scientist Galileo and his illegitimate daughter Maria Celeste who lives as a nun.

Finally there's Noel Coward's scintillating comedy Blithe Spirit, about the disastrous consequences of an incompetent medium dabbling with a ouija board. Author Charles Condomine suddenly finds himself with two warring wives, one very much in this world and one all too material from the next.

Launching his new collection at the theatre last week, Sir Peter said: "The Theatre Royal is one of the most beautiful in the country and actors love coming here. We can with these summer residencies do enterprising plays with enterprising casts. This is the huge attraction to me.

"I don't want to be too rude about the West End, but it is true now that if you talk to a West End producer, he doesn't say, 'Ah yes, Sir Peter, what play would you like to do?' he says 'Who have you got?'

"I have absolutely nothing against stars......but the most important thing I think in the theatre is the choice of play and why are you doing it."

Turning to this year's selection he said: "Something very odd happened last year. I'm not much of a one for themed seasons, but what happened last year was that in Betrayal, Fight for Barbara, Design for Living and As You Like It, we found we'd selected a series of plays that dealt with deceptions and disguise in love.

"It really was a summer of infidelity in various ways. But I think if you honestly choose plays you want to do at a certain place, at a certain time and for a certain audience, some kind of pattern emerges. And one has emerged and I would say this is the men pursued by women season, if you want to put a tag on it."

The plays have not yet been completely cast, but already signed up is Sir Peter's daughter, Rebecca Hall, who delighted audiences last year; Julian Glover, Anna Carteret and Will Keen.

By Jo Bayne