FLICK through the pages of the spring 2010 brochure at York Theatre Royal, and you will note the absence of any repertory productions in the main auditorium.

Instead the emphasis will be on touring work in a season that will run from February 5 to April 10, but artistic director Damian Cruden plays down any significance in the lack of home-grown work.

“It’s partly to do with when we had to get the brochure out and partly to do with the discussions about what to do as our big summer show not yet being complete, and some of the logistics for this year have been under review,” says Damian, who began the New Year working in tandem with a new chief executive, Liz Wilson.

“We’re trying to give ourselves as much time as possible before committing to what we’re going to do; most of it is now in place and that programme will come out in March.”

Those discussions have focused partly on how to follow up the Theatre Royal’s site-specific show of the past two summers, The Railway Children at the National Railway Museum. Initially, the theatre was said to be considering Rowntree Park as an outdoor setting for Kenneth Grahame’s Wind In The Willows, but now the production will be staged in the main auditorium re-configured as a theatre-in-the-round. Watch this space for more details.

In the meantime, once Humpty Dumpty has his last great fall on January 30, attention will turn to a spring programme that Damian believes is “not that different” in character from last year.

“It’s a shorter span but we’ve packed more in with a nice mix of work, and again I was aware of trying to keep things light for this season, so there’s lots of entertainment for the end of the winter months and the lightening of spring,” says Damian.

The main-house season opens with three one-night stands: soul singer Ruby Turner on February 5 at 7.30pm; acerbic social commentator Stewart Lee, letting off steam in If You Prefer A Milder Comedian, Please Ask For One, on February 6 at 8pm; and James Cromwell’s solo turn in Donald Freed’s new play, The Einstein Plan, streamed on to a screen from Los Angeles in a new transatlantic experiment in interactive theatre on February 7 at 9pm.

Hull Truck Theatre’s new revival of Men Of The World, John Godber’s evocation of a pensioners’ bus trip down the Rhine Valley, parks up in York from February 9 to 13; York Light Opera Company stages the English amateur premiere of Disney’s Beauty And The Beast from February 17 to 27; Tim Whitnall’s Morecambe, The Man Who Brought Us Sunshine, arrives direct from The West End for a run from March 2 to 6, with Bob Golding playing Eric.

Another West End hit, Defending The Caveman, will star Australian comedian Mark Little on March 8 and 9 at 7.30pm in Rob Becker’s study of why men and women misunderstand each other. Comedy continues in Spike Milligan’s Adolf Hitler: My Part In His Downfall, from March 16 to 20 before thrillers take over with Peter Egan and Philip Franks starring in The Secret Of Sherlock Holmes, from March 23 to 27; and Patrick Barlow’s humorous adaptation of John Buchan’s The 39 Steps returning from March 30 to April 3.

The season closes on a sombre note with Joan Littlewood’s musical entertainment Oh What A Lovely War, staged by Northern Stage from April 6 to 10.

“Like James Bond, Sherlock Holmes plays such a part in our heritage; The 39 Steps was so popular last time, it would be crazy not to bring it back; and Spike Milligan’s play sits nicely just before Oh What A Lovely War, with Milligan looking at the tragedy and absurdity of war when we are a nation at war once more,” says Damian.

• For tickets, phone 01904 623568 or book online at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk