A FEAST of drama, music and comedy is in store for audiences in the autumn programme at Malvern Theatres.

The season opens on September 5 with George Bernard Shaw's comedy You Never Can Tell. Directed by Peter Hall and starring Edward Fox and Diana Quick, it explores the battle of the sexes, the absurdities of marriage and the generation gap.

In contrast, award-winning play The Island comes to the Festival Theatre for one night only on September 20. Set in apartheid South Africa, it follows two political prisoners incarcerated on the notorious Robben Island, as they prepare to stage Sophocle's Antigone for inmates and staff.

Maureen Lipman pays a visit from September 26, appearing as Florence Foster Jenkins, a 1940s soprano unable to hit a single note, in Glorious!

For Theatres' chief executive Nic Lloyd, this promises to be a highlight.

"I just couldn't imagine anyone else who could do this part," he said. "Maureen Lipman is a real star and I think it's going to be great."

The Carl Rosa opera company returns on October 3, with Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado. Featuring set and costumes from Mike Leigh's film Topsy-Turvy, it tells a tale of love, marriage and executions in the Japanese court of Titipu.

From October 11, Anita Dobson stars alongside Ed Stoppard, son of playwright Tom, in the English Touring Theatre's production of Hamlet.

Daphne Du Maurier's thriller Rebecca opens on October 24, with Nigel Havers leading a large cast in an adaptation by the award-winning writer Frank McGuinness.

Girl Talk, a comedy singing trio in the vein of Fascinating Aida, come to Malvern for the first time on November 1, fresh from a stint at the Edinburgh Fringe.

"It's one of those shows that's difficult to describe," said Mr Lloyd. "I thought it was fantastic, they're very skilled performers and absolutely hilarious."

George Baker, Inspector Wexford in TV's The Ruth Rendell Mysteries, stars alongside Stephanie Cole in The Rivals, a period romp set in 18th Century Bath. The play, produced by the Theatre Royal Bath Productions, opens on November 7.

Oscar-nominated Tom Conti stars in The Real Thing, Tom Stoppard's take on love and infidelity, on November 28.

Musical nostalgia is on offer in the form of Shakin' Stevens on November 24, Alvin Stardust on December 7, Abba tribute Bjorn Again on December 13 and 60s rockers The Searchers on December 17.

December also sees the return of Round the Horne with a Christmas Special. Using original scripts from the cult 1960s radio show, actors bring to life the talents of Kenneth Horne, Kenneth Williams, Betty Marsden and Hugh Paddick.

There will also be the chance to catch Ron Moody, best known for his performance as Fagin in the 1968 film Oliver!, as Captain Hook in Peter Pan. The pantomime runs for four weeks from December 15.