A HOST of productions by award-winning theatre companies have been added to the 40th anniversary line-up at the Nuffield Theatre, which already includes six shows from the Southampton theatre's own team.

The special celebratory season opens next month with Last Train to Nibroc (February 11-21), a love story set in America during the Second World War. The show has been directed for New Perspectives Theatre Company by the Nuffield's own artistic director, Patrick Sandford.

Manchester based dance company Urban Expansions is next up with Once Upon a Time in Wigan (February 24-28), an award-winning production about Wigan Casino - the Cavern of the northern soul scene of the 60s and 70s.

America's Riot Group returns to Southampton with Adriano Shaplin's Pugilist Specialist (March 5-6), a timely offering about four American marines charged with eliminating a troublesome Middle Eastern leader.

Ibsen's classic of middle-class wifely discontent, A Doll's House (March 31-April 3), is brought to highly visual life by Scotland's Theatre Babel, while Shared Experience perform a new adaptation of Gone to Earth (April 6-10), based on Mary Webb's novel about two men competing for a feral young woman.

The Nuffield's major new production is Mary Stuart (April 22-May 15), a historical drama telling the story of Mary, Queen of Scots, and her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I.

Hip-hop basketball musical Slamdunk (May 18-22) is performed by Britain's leading black theatre company Nitro, while new writing gets a look-in with The Straits (June 1-5), about a naval family growing up in Gibraltar during the Falklands War. The season finale is Ballroom (July 9-10), a spectacular drama involving ballroom dancing, to be performed at Southampton Guildhall.

The new season also includes a series of Alternative Nights, featuring comedians such as Jenny Eclair and Al Murray, and a variety of children's shows.

For tickets and full season information call the Nuffield box office on 023 8067 1771.