TO celebrate its 25th anniversary in 2006, the Rose Theatre will carry on providing what it has done since it first flung open its doors in 1981 - staging a wide variety of entertainment.

"We are a theatre of the community," said publicity manager Nicola Blakemore. "It is about involvement of local people rather than just being a theatre that stages plays in the evening."

To prove the point, Wyre Forest's only live theatre venue is catering for all tastes this season.

Take Kidderminster's very own amateur dramatic company, The Nonentities. They leap from the 1960s satirical play Billy Liar to Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit, then JB Priestley's When We Are Married, as well as more contemporary plays like CP Taylor's And a Nightingale Sang, and Frozen by Bryony Lavery.

It is also a mixed bag music-wise. In March there is a tribute to Edith Piaf presented by the Troika touring troupe, entitled Spirit of Piaf, while Kidderminster Operatic and Dramatic Society performs My Fair Lady. Popular R&B outfit, Blues at Ten, are back in June (they sold out their last visit so get in quick).

If you like your song and humour on the stranger side then you might prefer comedian/musician Les Barker's Speaking Volumes visit tomorrow.

Then there is Play On, by the Once Removed Theatre Company, whose work has been described as "tour de farce".

The Rose will cement its community theatre reputation by hosting an end of year review by students from Kidderminster College of Performing Arts, and a script-in-hand show by the local writers, the Swan Playwrights, on the subject of Food, Glorious Food.

It all adds up to a mouth-watering diet of entertainment - something the late Kenneth Rose, described as a "director, producer, actor, author, composer and dreamer of dreams" and who the theatre is named after, would doubtlessly approve of.

The Rose, which has free parking nearby and catering facilities on site, is also available for hire for a variety of functions ranging from business meetings to conferences.

"It is somewhere a bit different and flexible to host an event," says Nicola.