A season packed with cutting-edge new writing and a superb treat for Christmas and new year are planned at the Warehouse Theatre, Dingwall Road, Croydon.

Once again the line-up proves that the theatre may be small but it's big on fresh, exciting productions.

Fresh from the West End's Reduced Shakespeare Company and the award-winning Jerry Springer: The Opera, actor and writer Rick Bland kicks off the season with the London premiere of the black comedy Thick from September 28 to October 16.

He plays Rudolph, a sweet idiot savant who is blissfully unaware of the chaos he creates. Travelling to a funeral, he meets his lawn-obessed dad, his born-again non-alcoholic gin-drinking mum and an old lady begging for a painless death.

As he interacts with them (and others) it reveals the tragedy marking his life. Thick has received rave reviews from across the world and has just returned from Broadway.

A challenging and daring piece of writing follows with Nirjay Mahindru's The Hot Zone (October 18 to 23).

Part of an exclusive two-week London run shared with the Lyric, Hammersmith, this new play follows three British Asians who have been incarcerated in an unfamiliar land.

Containing strong language, it looks at how the global war on terror' has rocked our perceptions of national and religious identity.

Making Dickie Happy (October 26 to November 13) was a huge success when it played at the Rosemary Branch Theatre in Islington last year and the Warehouse Theatre is delighted to give it another life.

Written by Jeremy Kingston, theatre critic for The Times, it tells the tale of a meeting between Noel Coward, Lord Louis Dickie' Mountbatten and Agatha Christie, all at the beginnings of their illustrious careers in the 1920s.

This year marks 20 years of the International Playwriting Festival at the Warehouse (November 19 to 20). A rich seam of new writing talent has been discovered from all across the world and is presented at the festival. Previous playwrights whose careers have been launched by the IPF include Kevin Hood (Silent Witness), Guy Jenkin (Spitting Image, Drop The Dead Donkey), Peter Moffat (Cambridge Spies, North Square) and Richard Vincent (Casualty).

And to top the season off, the theatre is proud to present the world premiere of Woody Allen's Murder Mysteries (December 9 to February 19). Based on six short stories written by Woody Allen in the 1970s for the New York Times, director Janey Clarke has developed a fresh, funny and inventive script with a 1940s' Manhattan setting mixed with live jazz songs. For more information and to book tickets call the box office on 020 8680 4060.

Main picture: The Hot Zone follows the story of three British Asians imprisoned in an unfamiliar land . Above: Woody Allen's Murder Mysteries has its premiere in December