IN A MOVE plainly designed to signal that the company is anything but fuddy-duddy, Canberra REP had two of its youngest members launch the  2014-15 season on at Theatre 3 on  Friday, November 8.

Menon, who made her stage debut for REP earlier this  year in David Williamson’s play “Don Parties On,” told Citynews that it had been “a fantastic opportunity,” adding “I really support what Canberra REP does…they offer great opportunities… a lot of my friends came to see me perform and said they didn’t know Canberra REP was a good place for  young people too.” Drum has been a member of the committee that selected the plays for the coming season.

In the directorial lineup for 2014, there proved to be some familiar faces, not least professional actor-turned-director and former Theatre Players scholar, Ed Wightman, who kicks off the season with Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night.”

Another familiar directorial face will be  company favourite, Aarne Neeme, who will stage “Arcadia” by Tom Stoppard. Wightman and Neeme have both directed for  REP this year.

Undaunted by the fact that it appears on the Canberra Theatre’s 2013 season list, One of the company regulars, usually as an actor, Judi Crane, will direct “The Importance of Being Ernest by Oscar Wilde,” in which several years ago and she played a formidable Lady Bracknell.

For the first time, barb barnett will join the company  us to direct “Equus” by Peter Shaffer, one of the most popular serious dramas in the theatrical repertoire.

Another first-time director for REP  is Kate Blackhurst, who  will direct Noel Coward’s ghostly comedy, “Blithe Spirit”. She was last seen on stage at Theatre 3 in “Improbable Fiction.”

And what, you may ask, has happened to the company’s traditional variety show? We got used to “Old Time Music Hall” then “Jazz Garters”, but now in a novel twist, REP is staging “Showtune”, an Off-Broadway revue celebrating the words and music of Jerry Herman of “Hello Dolly”, “Mame”, “Mack and Mabel”, and “La Cage aux Folles.”

Canberra REP Season 2014-15, Theatre 3, Eight packages available, bookings to  6257 1950.