THE world premiere of a new rock'n'roll musical based on Shakespeare's Hamlet opens Harrogate Theatre's autumn and winter season.

In 1999, the theatre staged Bob Carlton's Macbeth spoof From A Jack To A King; last year it was Carlton's twist on The Tempest and Fifties' sci-fi movie, Return To The Forbidden Planet.

Now Harrogate completes a Shakes-pearean trilogy, plundering the juke box and Shakespeare's greatest hits to tell the story of young clown Hamlet and the day the Denmark State Circus came to Harrogate in Tears Of A Clown.

On this occasion, Bob Carlton is not the writer.

Instead, the musical has been devised and written by the husband-and-wife team of Harrogate Theatre artistic director Rob Swain and actress Shelly Willetts.

Outlining the storyline, Rob says: "Hamlet is convinced that his father, the ring master, has been murdered by his uncle Claude, but who can he trust? His mother Gertie, the fortune teller? His best friend Horace, the lion tamer? Or Layla, the beautiful trapeze artist? Can he trust even himself? After all, there is something rotten in Denmark State Circus!"

Tears Of A Clown features such songs as Suspicious Minds, Thriller, Delilah, Bat Out Of Hell, Celebration and Tears Of A Clown itself, and the show runs from September 14 to October 6.

The season continues on a more serious, even tragic Shakespearean note with his bleak Scottish play, Macbeth, from October 26 to November 17.

"This production evokes a post-apocalyptic world of superstition and savagery, where to do good is an act of dangerous folly," says Rob, who will be directing the repertory production.

The "truly traditional" Christmas pantomime opens on November 30 for a run until January 12.

Babes In The Wood will be scripted by Nicholas Pegg, in his fifth panto for Harrogate Theatre, and directed by Lennox Greaves who was at the helm for The Sleeping Beauty last Christmas.

Anton Chekhov's Uncle Vanya forms Harrogate Theatre's first repertory production of 2002 from January 25 to February 16.

Rob says: "It's one of the most beautifully crafted plays of the European repertoire. Exploring the lightness and modern resonance of this sharply-observed ensemble piece, we shall present a lush, exuberant and timely revisiting of Chekhov's elegant classic drama."

Following the Harrogate run, Swain's production will play at theatres in Yorkshire and across the country, in the wake of past tours of The Importance of Being Earnest and A View From A Bridge.

Booking for Babes In The Wood has opened already for schools, with tickets going on sale from July 23. Booking for Tears Of A Clown opened this week; Macbeth and Uncle Vanya seat sales start on August 28. Box office: 01423 502116.