AS The Courtyard enters its 10th anniversary year, one of the first things people may notice is that the brochure for the forthcoming season has had a makeover.

The new compact brochure is leaner in size but not in content, and very much greener than its predecessor. Reducing the brochure to its new handbag-friendly proportions has resulted in big savings all round. More than 25% less energy was used in the production of this season's programme - and almost 25% saved in paper and printing costs.

"We'd like to see further reductions in the future," says marketing manager Vanessa Winters.

"But this is a great start and one of the next steps is to encourage more of our audiences to book their tickets online. A recent straw poll showed that up to 25% already do, but the less paper we use, the greater the benefits to the environment."

And it's certainly true that the best things come in small packages, as a look inside will reveal. As well as plenty of live music, dancing and comedy, the new season features a great programme of drama that is perhaps less familiar but offers a great night out.

First up, on January 8, is an intriguing investigation of the cult of celebrity presented by The Midnite Youth Theatre Company. The Premiere is a comedy-drama by Ben Myers which follows the career of movie star Johnny Green as he moves from an Oscar award to sensational breakdown.

The Premiere, directed by award-winning Australian director Anthony Howes, plays Hereford before transferring to the Sadler's Wells-Lillian Baylis Theatre in London.

Another powerful drama is promised later in the month when a gripping psychological drama, Iron by Rona Munro, comes to the Courtyard's Studio from January 23 to 26. Iron is the latest production from the renowned 4Play Theatre Company and sees Josie visiting her mother, who is serving a life sentence, for the first time in 10 years.

The lighter side of life is on offer on January 31, when The Reduced Shakespeare Company presents The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged), and again on February 21 in Albert Nobbs, a bittersweet comedy of love and loneliness, hope and despair as the eponymous hero's life is turned upside down by the loss of the woman he loved and the possibility of a new romance.

Albert Nobbs is showing in the Studio, as is European Arts Company's production of The Picture of Dorian Gray on February 19, in which a versatile cast of five actors tell the story of Dorian Gray using only the objects found within an artist's studio to create the physical world of Victorian London.

Throughout the season, the hugely popular Comedy Club continues to have audiences laughing in the aisles and Nightjar Folk Club brings music lovers the best folk around, with Niamh Parsons, who has sung for President Clinton, flying over here specially to do a Nightjar concert at The Courtyard on Thursday, January 24. For a complete list of Nightjar gigs between January and March, visit www.courtyard.org.uk Between Monday, February 25 and Saturday, March 1, The Courtyard is one of the principal venues for a great programme of events celebrating Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender History Month.

Live events include a the return of the fabulous flamboyant Ceri Dupree, whose wardrobe alone draws gasps of admiration and an evening of Filthy Gorgeous entertainment when the Scissor Sisters tribute show meets the Magic of the 80s.

Add in irresistible ballet in the form of Swan Lake, an eclectic programme of must-see films and panto from Hereford Amateur Pantomime Society, and you have three months of very varied entertainment offering the cliched, but no less true for that, something for everyone.