THE first season of the Royal Shakespeare Company's SummerHouse attracted a total audience of 9,000.

When set against the 300 different events that took place in the marquee in front of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre between May and the beginning of October, this works out at an average audience of 30 people for each event.

However, RSC education officer Fiona Lindsay, who was responsible for the SummerHouse programme, was upbeat about the success of the new venue, saying that the figures did not reveal the whole picture.

"Some of those events were workshops where you would only want a maximum of 20 people," said Ms Lindsay.

"The overwhelming response was positive from the people of Stratford who participated," she said, adding that the venture was "brave and ambitious".

Events at the SummerHouse ranged from local school and amateur productions, music, dances, comedy evenings and a regular series of "audiences with" on Sunday afternoons.

Of these, the dance events, including tango, salsa and jitterbug sessions, proved particularly popular and sold out.

The audiences with the likes of Big Brother's Penny Ellis, actors Sam West and Janet Suzman and playwright Sir Alan Ayckbourn regularly attracted audiences of more than 100 to the 160-capacity studio space.

RSC spokesman Dean Asker said no decision had yet been made about whether or not the marquee, which is owned by the RSC, will come out of storage for a second season next year.

"We are going to sit down and evaluate it," said Mr Asker.

"When you start a brand new venue and are doing such a wide range of activities you can't expect to be immediately successful," he added.

"It would be wonderful if it came back next year because we would be able to put in place things we learnt this year," added Ms Lindsay.